Dark Phoenix Rising
Heavydeath
Here we go again with some very good work, the Swedish trio HEAVYDEATH release their creepy and bitter new work, the EP "Dark Phoenix Rising".
Well, this EP has the same style you hear on their latest album, "Eternal Sleepwalker": the same heavy and bitter Doom Metal with influences coming from the earlier age of Doom Death Metal (due the presence of nasty vocals and some tunes on guitars). They feature that slow and abrasive sound with sinister and dark tempos. All the songs are very long (except for "Dark Phoenix Rising", which lasts a little over 4 minutes). But hold your horses, dear ones, because this trio has a strong and bold personality in their work, something that makes their songs really pleasurable for our ears.
To do such a fusion of intense and powerful music with abrasive tunes and nasty aggressiveness demands very good production. On this EP, the sound quality (resulting from a wise producer) is very good. Their songs sound heavy and bitter, the tones for each instrument was carefully chosen, but you can understand what they are playing.
As I said earlier, almost all "Dark Phoenix Rising" songs are very long, but are very good, indeed. But we can pin their best moments to the slow and bitter "Dead Trees". This track is a darkened and introspective song, with very fine guitar work on funereal riffs. The classical Doom Metal song "Bow Down" with its mischievous and catchy guitars along with fine work on the vocals and the use of aggressive tunes of normal voice, (far away from guttural grunts). Another considerably good moment are the bone chilling ones "The Ember of the End" which is another fine piece with good work on vocals. The bass and drums are really fine here also and "Dark Phoenix Rising". If you read my words carefully and with attention, I said all the five tracks are really good.
This album is a fine piece of work that really deserves the attention of all fans of Doom Metal.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Dark Phoenix Rising" Track-listing:
1. Dead Trees
2. Bow Down
3. The Ember of the End
4. From the Ashes
5. Dark Phoenix Rising
Heavydeath Lineup:
Nicklas Rudolfsson - Guitars, vocals
Johan Bäckman - Bass
Daniel Moilanen - Drums
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