From down under, comes Australian Black Metal band ECHOES OF GLOOM. This is the band's debut album. Only the words "adrift endlessly" accompany the album on Bandcamp. The album has eight songs. "Intro" is just that…a short instrumental that sets a solemn tone for the album. It is followed by "Immortality Manifest." The sound is thick and aggressive, as Black Metal is, but also very hopeless sounding, as Doom Metal can be. The lead breaks help to pepper up the landscape with some extra seasoning. The speed drumming keeps the track moving forward also. "The Wandering Moon" has deeper and more contentious sound from a powerful opening riff, and it's off and running. Doom features are replaced with naked aggression, although they still hand in the background, a constant warning.

 "Great Malignant Towers of Delirium" start up like a diesel engine kicking over, with a thick branch of riffs and powerful drumming. The vocals are angry this time, with full gutturals, and lead breaks again provide some more variance. There is even a smooth melodic passage that shows the songwriter's versatility. The next two songs are divided into two parts. Part one begins with clean, gentle tones, but the main sound roars in like ocean waves after a storm. The vocals lash with anger at times, and with hopelessness and misery at others. Part two is slower, and more gloomy, and there are some uncharacteristic pig squeals in the riffs at times. "Tome of Fathomless Darkness" is a short song that seems to stretch out for days…even weeks, and you get the image of the title in your mind.

 "Wanderer of the Mind's Eternal Storm" is the final offering, and the riff is accompanied by backing choirs. The power that comes from the riffs is akin to water washing out a mountainside. Give it time, and it will erode. It's a lengthy offering that suggest we are all headed towards the inevitable doom of fate. Overall, this was an enjoyable album, and considering it was all made by just one artist makes it that much better. It was in the vein of traditional Black Metal, but Dan kept things fresh with elements of Doom and even some atmospheric passages. This was a promising debut album and a band to keep an eye on.