TETHRA is a Melancholic Doom/Death Metal quartet, formed in Italy in 2008. The band previously released their debut full-length in 2103. "Like Crows For The Earth" is the band's most recent release, and contains eleven new tracks. "Resilience" is a short, airy intro leading into "Transcending Thanatos." It's a pretty unique sound. There is some dissonance between the chord progressions and the vocals, which vary from Death to clean. You can hear the Doom and at times some Gothic tinges as well. I like the interlude and the sound that follows. The brief instrumental "Prelude To Sadness" sets a despondent tone that leads to "Springtime Melancholy." This seven-minute track is wonderfully depressive, with downtrodden acoustic guitars and emotive, lamenting vocals. Everything around you fades to the color grey.

"Deserted" opens with what I believe are notes from a sitar, giving a brief Middle-Eastern feeling before the main riff charges in. The Death vocals are deep and the riff is strong. The mid-tempo pace and clean vocals still allow the doomy elements to come through. The interlude "Subterranean" is a two-minute plea of a drowning soul, as all hope is lost. "The Groundfeeder" is a lumbering mastodon, wandering lost in the frigid tundra, looking for his mate who perished long ago. The beauty of the gentle giant is not lost in his ability to skewer you at moment's notice, yet you lament at his loss. "Entropy" is the third instrumental. One thing is for sure, these brief pauses from the heaviness of the tracks on the album very much accentuate the despair presented in the album.

"Earthless" moves forward a little more quickly at times but still pauses long enough for you to soak in the held clean vocal notes. If you can't hear the anguish hidden in them than you might not have a pulse. I love the twin guitar notes at the end as well; it's like foretelling the coming of the end of the world. The title track closes the album. The riffs are super-heavy and the chord pattern offers the perfect amount of hopelessness and despair. "Like Crows For The Earth" is a solid Doom/Death Metal release and although some of the sound is familiar as it should be, it's fairly unique from others I have heard this year. If you like your love coming from a heart of black, certainly give this a listen.