CLOUDS is an International band based out of the UK, and Romania. Formed in 2013, they have released six full-length albums, and Personal Records is re-issuing two of them...the second being "Destin," which was originally released in 2017. The album contains seven tracks. "The Wind Carried Your Soul" leads off the album. Similar to "Departe," the song opens with slow, ambient clean guitars, and pretty but solemn strings. It sounds like a funeral procession in Scotland in the middle ages. The main riff kicks in hard, and then it segues into clean female vocals, presumably the same voice as on the other re-issue. She reaches out, and aches in pain...her anguish as evident as the nose on your face. Harsh vocals augment the sound, but it returns to clean despondent ones before the end.

"Fields Of Nothingness" begins with another slow pace, reminding me of a graveyard in late fall...the last autumn leaves crunch under your toes as a cold wind breaks upon your face. The harsh vocals remind you that you are still among the breathing on this earth, and that anger is a more useful emotion than despair. The clean vocals are perhaps more emotive, but both have an equal impact. There is no hope here at all. "Nothing But A Name" opens with piano notes and clean guitars. The harsh vocals here are absolutely gut-wrenching...they shake the very ground you walk on with a deep reverb that seems to last forever. You are indeed nothing but a name. Being reminded of that is pretty depressing.

"In This Empty Room" begins with more of those solemn piano notes, ringing out gently for no one to hear. Ana Carolina again takes the lead on the clean female vocals. She has a soft-hearted touch, which is soon washed away with harsh vocals. She returns with a purpose, to carry the feeling of being alone, as she reaches out, with strong vibrato. "please take my hand" she pleads, much to the chagrin of the male vocals, which answer with a prompt "there is no piece to be found here, child." "You Went So Silent" is an acoustical version of the song. It is just clean vocals, guitars and strings, like a lover lamenting the sudden loss of his partner. All of his senses just go dead, as he looks over her dead body for days without moving.

"Even If I Fall" is another acoustical number, wedged between the previous track and the closing piece. It seems like a continuation of the earlier song...or just a continuation of your endless suffering. "Errata" closes the album. It begins with a slow dose of piano notes. According to Webster's it means: "a list of errors in a printed work discovered after printing and shown with corrections." Strings join in. At the three-minute mark, guttural vocals take over. Whatever hope there may have been on album is dashed by a feeling of utter nothingness. The harsh vocals wash everything away, until the final minute of a reprise of the piano.

Overall, much like its counterpoint, "Destin" is full of hopelessness and other similar adjectives that summon up the worst of you to the surface. Much like a lingering cold on an endless run of grey, rainy days, there is little relief for the weary. You drudge ahead like you always do, wondering why you do it, and when you have no answers, you shrug your shoulders and just go through the motions. Perhaps this is the feeling that the band is most trying to display on the album...we are all rats, stuck in this maze we call life, with little purpose. In the end, we are all just pushing up daisies, or less gloriously, food for worms.