In the end of the 80's, a fusion happened in some moment: the brutality of Death Metal was mixed with the slow paced tempos of Doom Metal, creating not only Doom Death Metal, but one must understand that albums as PARADISE LOST's "Gothic" (1991), MY DYING BRIDE's "Turn Loose the Swans" (1993) and ANATHEMA's "Serenades" (1993) caused a deep revolution on the genre due the use of nasty and funereal ambiences with melancholic and introspective elements. Today, many bands are following new tendencies into the genre, but some prefers to make something that is 'back 2 basics', as PILGRIMAGE, a quartet with members hailing from Malta and Netherlands. Their first album, "Sigil of the Pilgrim Sun", is full of influences of the past.

The way they play is bitter and atmospheric, plenty of influences from early ages of Doom Death Metal, but with some melancholic parts with an elegant appeal (with some clean gothic vocals in some moments).  And on the member's curriculum vitae are names as WEEPING SILENCE, VICTIMS OF CREATION, DELUGE OF SORROW, GRIFFIN DEVICE, SATURNINE, and others, so experience is not a problem. And it means that their musical work, even based on an old formula, has a personal appeal that will seduce fans of the genre for sure. A sound quality for the genre isn't easy to create, because one must fuse the bitterness with a set of instrumental tunes and effects on the vocals to make things understandable to the fans. But the work done by David Depasquale on the mixing and mastering is really good: the songs are sounding aggressive, melancholic and introspective, but always in a way that can be assimilated by anyone easily. And Daniel Neagoe is presented as special guest on the vocals on "Silent Descent into Solitude".

The band presents seven songs on their first album, so expect long timespans. And even with a homogenous level of quality between the songs, maybe "The Pilgrim" (it's slow and oppressive, based on those melancholic and memorable guitar riffs and solos that are hard to forget once heard), "Dream Rivers Lachrymose" (this one shows excellent landscaping contrasts between introspective parts with clean vocals and crude Doom Death Metal ambiences), "She Who Wakes from Slumber" (this song is permeated by elements from early Doom Death Metal that can be heard clearly on the guitars, but the work of bass guitar and drums on the rhythmic weight is clear), and "Silent Descent into Solitude" (another one with very good contrasts between aggressive slow parts with melancholic moments, what shows a good work from the vocals) can be a fine set to introduce the band's music to the fans.

If you're into Doom Death Metal, or even be an addict of Doom Metal, or even a Metalhead that just listens to music without worrying with labels and subgenres, "Sigil of the Pilgrim Sun" is a fine release. But PILGRIMAGE seems to be just beginning, so the fans can expect great things from the quartet.