LEFT HAND SOLUTION is a doom metal band from Sweden who formed in 1991. "Dead Winter" is their new ep but the band has also released three full lengths, three demos, another EP and one split.  Before this promo was given to me, I have never heard of the band or their music so this review was something I went into blind with no preconceived notions other than they were in the doom metal category.

This 28 minute long EP definitely has a Gothic feel to it. The opening track, "First Day Of Winter" is mid paced gothic tinged doom that is pretty solid if musically unremarkable. The highlight of the song (and the album as a whole) is Mariana Holmberg. Her voice is wonderful—husky and more deep than other vocalists in this style. Musically, the album just isn't all that memorable.  Obviously, every member here is talented but the compositions just don't excite me.  They have a rock feel to their songs and I think it makes their overall sound come off as a little basic.  Then again, it is hard to judge a band on such a short piece of music so I"m willing to see what they can do on their next full length.

The biggest surprise on the album is their cover of DOLLY PARTON's "Jolene." They slather the song with depressing heavy doom and without an doubt make the song their own. Unfortunately the song itself was never good to begin with mostly because of its cumbersome chorus. That isn't the band's fault however so I will see this version definitely blows the original away.  I do applaud the band for covering such a different style of song, as this is something I would never have thought any doom band would ever try their hand at.

The final track "When The Reason Is Gone,"  is the best track here. Its length of seven minutes gives the band plenty of time to grow the song.  The structure is different, a lot of different riffs are presented and that solo is excellent.   I think if more the album had as much to it as this song then I would be giving it a higher rating. This is a solid release although most of the album didn't excite me much, due to most of the music and songs just being a little more basic and simple than what I'm used to.