Seeing the Press release that came with this album, I thought that I read something wrong. And that's because - and with no offence, by all mean - I didn't know that there was a Doom Metal scene in Saudi Arabia!

GRIEVING AGE was formed back in 2004 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The two founding members are Ahmed and Ghassan. The two lads had this idea for about a year before they meet again and started the band. In Aloof Lantern… is their first full length album. Before that, they had released a single back in 2005 and a demo CD two years ago.

As for the album itself, firstly I have to say that giving the CD to Dan Swano for the mastering and the mixing was a good idea. He made a really good job and GRIEVING AGE's Doom Metal, even though it is nothing innovative, sounds great. Having as base the primitive MY DYING BRIDE stuff and other bands like MOURNING BELOVETH, SWALLOW THE SUN and very early ANATHEMA's sound, they managed to get my attention with their slow tempo melodies. Ahmed's voice is closer to Darren Moore (MOURNING BELOVETH) and doesn't offer any clean vocals.

The In Aloof Lantern, Thy Bequeathed A Wailer Quietus album is quite good if you are looking for some slow tempo Doom Metal with growling vocals. Being only 36 minutes is good since it would have been boring if it was longer in duration. A nice try from a band whose base is in a country quite hard for some people in Europe and the US to imagine there even is a Metal scene.