Aphotic
Aphotic (Demo Mcd) 2000 No Label
Fans of cult Doomsters Dusk pay attention! According to the band themselves, all 3 members of Aphotic have at some time or another been part of this legendary Death/doom act from the US. However, don't get your hopes up for some ultra slow Dusk-alike Doom from Aphotic. Aphotic described their own music as Melodic Death-metal! For the most part I can pretty much agree on that description, although they do have some more Doomy and atmospheric elements. The Mcd however starts off with a cliché Death-metal track entitled, 'Livid Dread'. It's in the vein of Swedish Death-metal Entombed style ('Wolverine' era). A nice Rock & Roll'ish Death-metal track. A bit more melodic than most death-metal. From 'Glide' onwards more atmospheric elements are introduced into the music and a couple of times the tempo goes down considerably. We are also treated to some monotonous guitar work that reminds me a lot of mid-period Katatonia. Overall however, the music remains pretty melodic and keeps that Death Rock & Roll feel. Until the last track that is. 'Panoramic' is by far the doomiest track of the 5 songs. It is the slowest track and has those ever so lovely slowly grinding guitars we all love so much (well I do!). We are even treated to the occasional moaning guitar. At the end of the song the band however could not contain themselves any longer and the tempo goes up considerably, shame. All in all this is a very enjoyable piece of music. I would recommend it to fans of mid period Katatonia who don't mind the music often being slightly more up-tempo. However, whatever ties Aphotic had with Dusk, you won't find them here. This is simply enjoyable, slightly doomy, death-metal.	1. Livid Dread 2. Glide 3. Psychoma 4. A Chamee To Live 5. Panoramic Approx. 16 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Under Veil of Dark (Demo Mcd) 2001 No Label
One of the problems with getting two albums of the same band at the same time is, that it sometimes becomes hard to distinguish the two. Especially if both albums sound so alike you almost wonder why they did not press both Mcd's into one full length. Once more Aphotic has written multiple slightly Doomy Death-metal tracks with a strong Katatonia influence. This time however it is more the drumming than the guitar sections that remind me of Katatonia. I guess they felt like a little change? Overall, the tempo is a bit more up than on their self-titled debut demo. The Mcd also offers a nice treat can be found in the soft chanting on the background on the track cleverly entitled 'Atmosphere'. But still this also leaves me with the problem that I don't have that much else to say about this release. We've got mid tempo Death-metal, we've got melody, we've got nice keyboard bits for atmosphere and we've got Katatonia worship. It is a recipy for very enjoyable and undemanding music. But unfortunately it's not sometimes you can spend hours talking about. Aphotic is very enjoyable, sometimes atmospheric Death-metal and if you're in the mood for something light, I would recommend this for sure. Something if you want to take a break from all that heavy, depressing Doom without fully breaking away from the Doom-metal vibe.	1. Precipice 2. Under Veil of Endless Grey Sky 3. Atmosphere 4. Free Me Approx. 16 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Stillness Grows (CD) 2004 Flood The Earth
It does make you wonder sometimes. How often have you seen bands that make music according to cheap, mass-production recipes, getting over-hyped just because they fit in a certain scene? How many bands sign a deal having hardly made a serious demo, because they feature ex-members of that famous band, or even because they happen to come from a particular geographical background which is renowned for the scene to which they so desperately try to belong? Yet a quality band like Aphotic has to wait more than four years to see their material being released by a label, let alone to gain some recognition for it. Flood The Earth records fortunately saw that gap in the market, releasing all previously unreleased material of this extraordinary band at once. The compilation has been called 'Stillness grows' and should be listened to as one single whole, despite the fact that it is comprised of three different demos. This because both the production and the mood of the songs, have a similar vibe. It is not easy to characterize the sound of this band despite its relative accessibility and vague similarities to other dark metal entities. Some might recognize a Katatoniaeque guitar sound, some others might hear the legacy of the band in which some Aphotic members were involved, namely the legendary Dusk. In both cases, those listeners would probably be right, but referring to these bands solely is by no means enough to give an idea of what Aphotic sound like. The sound of this band is truly a paradox; they make use of conventional 'extreme' metal elements like brutal vocals, distorted guitars and -at moments- quite intense riffing, only to create music, which is laid back, tranquil and almost ambient. Despite their relatively slow, hypnotic guitar sound and quite deep grunts, words like 'crushing', 'depressing' and 'monolithic' can not be applied here. Aphotic's sound is contemplative, very atmospheric and easy on the ear of the trained listener. The tempo between and within the tracks rarely varies, creating a constant mood of tranquility and -dare I say? - stillness. Surely, there are minor exceptions like the brutal 'Benumb', the slowest and heaviest track on this album and probably the only one that fully qualifies for the title ‘'oom metal' or the emotionally charged ambient instrumental 'A chance to live'. There is also the beautiful 'Under Veil of the Endless Grey Sky', with its subtle atmospheric keyboard lines reminding of 'Crockett's Theme' (ouch), which has been my favourite since I first heard it on mp3.com some years ago. But chances are that if you like one track of this band, you will probably like them all as they all have a similar unpretentious, uncomplicated vibe. I cannot stress enough how much I would recommend this special entity, as ’Stillness Grows' is one of my favourite releases this year. Should you want to find out more about this band, check out their website at www.aphoticdeath.com	Stillness grows 1. Vulnerable 2. Benumb 3. Spores 4. Loathe 5. Lunar Ride Under veil of dark 6. Precipice 7. Under Veil of the Endless Grey Sky 8. Atmosphere 9. Free me Aphotic 10. Livid Dread 11. Slide 12. Psychoma 13. A Chance to Live 14. Panoramic Approx. 49 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
To find new darkness / The slumber (Split CD) 2005 Cursed Productions
It’s maybe a lesser known fact in the dark doom scene that the names Aphotic and Dusk are strongly related. While the former (who disbanded only recently) are a well-known and respected entity in the realms of dark metal, Dusk are their somewhat obscure predecessors who have acquired legendary status within the doom metal genre but have sadly remained completely unknown to the rest of the metal population. This split album resurrects the since years disbanded Dusk and combines their as yet unreleased swansong ‘The slumber’ with what has ironically become one of Aphotic’s last efforts since the band recently announced that they are breaking up. Aphotic are once again offering us exactly what they offered on their previous EPs: high quality mid tempo dark metal, which this time –even more than in the past- brings forth reminiscences of Katatonia’s masterpiece `Brave Murder Day’. Their short, straightforward tracks are of high emotional and productional standards and can easily appeal to any fan of the aforementioned Katatonia, as well as bands like Rapture and Daylight Dies. I always thought that there were traces of Aphotic in a lot of Dusk’s work, but this EP is unique in its ability to demonstrate the gradual transition of the one band to the other. The raw, aggressive sound we got accustomed to through the first two Dusk EP’s is still there, but the band were clearly in a transitional period as more atmospheric elements than ever are present here: mysterious acoustic guitar parts, ‘clean’ and chanted vocals, and weird guitar synths create a mystical atmosphere not too dissimilar to diSEMBOWELMENT’s unique mix of heavy, unrelenting death/doom metal with subtle ambient elements. Aphotic fans can blindly buy this release as their new output is as consistent and high quality as all their previous EP’s. As for Dusk fans, this is a very interesting release from a historical point of view and a worthy addition to the two MCDs for which these purveyors of darkness and atmosphere are renowned.	Aphotic: 1. Crystallized 2. Spade 3. Sea 4. All we have is this… Dusk: 5. An aerial view 6. Steal my soul 7. The slumber 8. Perpetual shrieks 9. Moonbeams Approx. 40 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou