Treurwilg is Dutch for weeping willow. The band themselves have been together since 2014 and this is their second Full-Length album, after the independent release of "Departure" back in 2016. The band have stayed loyal in their numbers and have no recorded changes in personnel. So what have the Melo Doom Dutch foursome put together, let's find out..

"Fragility of Mankind" starts off slowly, it creates a soft harmonic melody from the off, waiting to burst into life. Before any spark kicks in, a softly spoken voice takes us into the next stage. Once the spoken word has ended, the band kick in, in full. The start of this next stage is instrumental once more, but vocals kick in after 2 and half minutes (roughly). The vocals are at a pace which follows the Doom style melodies already set down. The vocals are not as clear as possible, but they also do not last long, the slow, bending instrumental melody returns. The instrumental stage takes us through to the fifth minute of the song until the dark growling vocals return, they are once more unclean and not easy to follow, they seem coarser here. The melody picks up a bit of pace in the final minute to close out the song in style. Not a bad start

"In Ruin and Misery" is also a slow starter, very similar intro of "Fragility of Mankind". The slow style can sometimes lead to explosive segments changing the trajectory of a song. That may not be the case here. The pace picks up a little after the 2-minute mark, it does get heavier with the melodies and the vocals do kick in, so that is a decent change. The vocals, are once harder to understand, but they do go well with the pace and add a decent element of sound to the song.  There is a section where more of an experimental guitar riff kicks in and it is good, doesn't last a long time, but does return here and there to keep the song fresh. Around the 5-minute mark, all the pace is sucked out of the song and goes into a weird, mellow vibe melody. The pace never quiet returns, there are a few different segments, where drums are used more to acknowledge the sound, but the overall feel is the same.

"Myosotis" starts with a more upbeat intro than we have heard on the other two songs. More Progressive like you would hear TOOL do. This experimental melody is new, so gives the album a new seed of life. The vocals do not help the case, and once they are added, the pace loses itself somewhat. The song has become to sound like the others now, and loses its edge. The pace is far too slow to excite many. The vocals become impossible to understand and I found myself switching off.

"I" has a faster start, which is a good mold to break. The melody is decent, pace is good. Vocals join in and actually benefit the sound. Then the pace is removed, we go to the weird, mellowness of an acoustic set up. Lucky for us, it lasts only a few chords and its back to the aggressive side. The pace isn't as fast as it was and does slow down again, which makes the song lose its edge, and you may think it will dwindle down and become the mellowness that most dongs become. You'd be right.

"Shallow Pools of Grief" is a far slower start, which may kick into life, or just stay this pace whole song. Please let it pick up pace. It does, only just. The song has a decent rhythm to it, but the melodies don't seem to go anywhere that we haven't heard already. The song isn't bad it has opportunity to blossom into something new, it just doesn't. It does however fade out at the end like many other songs on this album.

Doom as a genre is not for everyone, so when it mixes with Melo Death styles it is a huge support. The principle effects of this album are, slow start, add a few melodies, mix it up, add pace. Then you add vocals and lose pace and experimental effects. The vocals for me do not do the band justice and are hard to understand and do not help the melodies grow.