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/:: Artist :: Forgotten Tomb ::\
:: Album :: Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love ::
:: Year :: 2015 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Metal Source :: CDDA . ::
:: Label :: Agonia Records R.date :: 05.05.2015 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: ARcd138 Size :: 97,10 MB __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: 268kbps : .
. Quality :: 44,1kHz/Joint-Stereo .
. .
Website :: https://www.facebook.com/Official.Forgotten.Tomb
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 01. Soulless Upheaval 07:02 ::
:: 02. Mislead the Snakes 06:17 ::
:: 03. Bad Dreams Come True 07:20 ::
:: 04. Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love 07:34 ::
:: 05. King of the Undesirables 07:26 ::
:: 06. Dread the Sundown 09:26 ::
:: 07. Swallow the Void 05:33 ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 50:38 min ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: As far as Blackened Doom goes, Mediterranean miserablists ::
:: FORGOTTEN TOMB are about as big and as good as they come. ::
:: The band, originally formed in 1999 as a one man affair by ::
:: Herr Morbid after leaving his previous outfit, have gone ::
:: from strength to strength with each release, and really hit ::
:: their stride with their previous album, "àAnd Don't Deliver ::
:: Us From Evil", which gained them wider attention and ::
:: critical acclaim from both fans, journalists and peers ::
:: alike. Whenever a band produces a record of this magnitude, ::
:: one obvious question naturally comes up; can they follow ::
:: this up with something that is equal, if not better, than ::
:: its predecessor. Luckily for both the band and fans, their ::
:: eighth full length, "Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love", ::
:: is a masterpiece in its own right, and might just be one of ::
:: their best releases to date. ::
:: ::
:: The opening track, "Soulless Upheaval", has a very strong, ::
:: dissonant intro section, and the whole track is essentially ::
:: a really progressive Black Metal track. It's one ferocious, ::
:: dark and foreboding wall of noise that sounds really ::
:: amazing. The guitar sound, which like I said, is rooted ::
:: quite strongly in Black Metal, has a lot of Gothic and Doom ::
:: elements thrown in for good measure, which only adds to the ::
:: aura and presence of this track, and the rasping, tar-like ::
:: vocals cut across the top very well. The guitar solo stands ::
:: as one of the focal points of this beast of a tune, and has ::
:: some amazing, spine-tingling sections that really help set ::
:: the album up before the track fades away. The song that ::
:: immediately follows it, "King of the Undesirables", is a ::
:: mid-paced, discordant epic with the closest thing you'll ::
:: get to sing-along vocals in a Blackened Doom band. The ::
:: drumming that backs it is confident and fierce, and helps ::
:: drive the string section forward on its relentless dirge. ::
:: All the aspects of the songs music are brought to the fore ::
:: at least once, including the bass, which becomes more ::
:: prominent and heavier towards the end of the track. "Bad ::
:: Dreams Come True", is somewhat fittingly enough, all my ::
:: dreams for a great Doom-laden track brought to fruition. ::
:: It's main riff is a thick, groovy guitar line that almost ::
:: drones as the song kicks into gear. There's a lot more ::
:: amazing, Black Metal tinged guitars, before it becomes an ::
:: all out Black Metal beast in its own right, if only for ::
:: brief intervals as it ebbs and flows between this ::
:: blistering Black Metal brilliance and the original guitar ::
:: motif. It fades away in a flare of speed and vicious drum ::
:: beats. And then we come to this albums title track, which ::
:: opens at a crawl and builds into what I suspect will become ::
:: a cornerstone of their live set in the near future. This is ::
:: a slow-burner, and without even realising it, this track ::
:: becomes much more powerful as it progresses. ::
:: ::
:: "Mislead the Snakes" has a lot to offer as well, and grabs ::
:: your attention much more forcefully than its predecessor. ::
:: The great rhythms, the even greater leads and the sharp and ::
:: gnashing vocals help to establish this particular tune as ::
:: one of the stand-out pillars of this record. The Doom Metal ::
:: influences on this track are noticeably more present than ::
:: on many of the other tracks on this record, and ultimately ::
:: sounds like a collaboration between Doom and Black Metal ::
:: legends that never occurred. "Dread the Sundown" is another ::
:: mid-tempo song, with the cold, eerie atmosphere that every ::
:: good Black Metal song should have on it. The cleaner guitar ::
:: lines and the progressive approach to the music all make ::
:: this an awesome track, and help stop this from falling into ::
:: mediocrity as many slower Black Metal tracks are prone to ::
:: do. By this points, we've experienced slow and fast, heavy ::
:: and dissonant, and the other numerous sections of this ::
:: bands sound that make them brilliant. And then we come to ::
:: the albums closing number, "Swallow the Void"; this is a ::
:: very strong track with a foreboding atmosphere that cloaks ::
:: the whole track. This instrumental track is built around ::
:: not only the aforementioned atmosphere, but also a great, ::
:: minimalist guitar line that works really well with the ::
:: ambiance that backs it. It's actually quite mellow and ::
:: relaxing, and is a great way to wind down this amazing ::
:: album. ::
:: ::
:: As I said at the start of this review, this is a band that ::
:: is going from strength to strength with each and every ::
:: release they put out, and this is arguably one of their ::
:: strongest albums yet. This is no small compliment, as some ::
:: of the previous albums that this band have done are future ::
:: classics of the genre, and have garnered the band a cult ::
:: following worldwide. This album might just take them to the ::
:: forefront of the scene, and see them play to larger and ::
:: wider audiences the world over. This album is highly ::
:: recommended. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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