| The Weeping of a Thousand Years (CD) | 1996 | Cacophonous |
The album seems to revolve around a vampiric theme and as such has been labelled by many as "gothic". I however rather place this in the Dark-metal corner. The slow tempo, tortured vocals and melancholy we know from future albums like 'Ark of Thought' or 'Mournument', all this can be found here in plenty. But at times his black-metal past does rear its ugly head with some speedier passages. Fortunately, this is kept to a minimum.
'The Weeping of a Thousand Years' is perhaps the most accessible of all Marco's albums. Musically, it is more laid-back, focusing on (romantic) feelings of melancholy and sadness, for a large part due to the lush keyboard arrangements. Of course, when it comes to the vocals, Marco sounds as extreme and over the top as one would expect. We wouldn't want to have it any other way, would we? But it sounds less extreme than on his other albums, keeping the tortured screams to a bare minimum. The suicidal and depressive nature of his later albums is also still underdeveloped, giving wake to the before mentioned sad romanticism. All in all I must say this album surprised me. Not one review I read about it when it came out, seems to have been right. They either claimed it to be raw black-metal or to be soft gothic music. What do they know? Feh! Everybody knows I know best! But seriously, a worthy addition to the collection of any fan!
1. The Romantic Sounds of Death
2. A Gathering Of Memories
3. Upon The Highlands I Fought
4. A Last Lament
5. I Have Done As You Did
6. Lost Forever
7. The awakened
8.The Gothic Statue
Approx. 63 minutes
| The ark of thought (CD) | 1997 | Supernal |
The sound of this work can be described as depressive dark metal, but Marco's vocals add to it a love it or hate it edge. Although the song structures are pretty simple, the arrangements of the songs leave a pretty complicated impression. The keyboard work is subtle, but it definately adds depth and contributes to the depressive atmosphere of this album. All that wailing and those depressive lyrics make the comparison with gothic metal almost unavoidable, but Deinonychus' music sounds in my opinion much more real. It has not much to do with a "misery" image or the complaints about how tough life is from a spoiled, semi-grown up adult who didn't have any setbacks in his life, something which is unfortunately pretty common in the gothic genre.
'The ark of thought' is a recommendation for any doom fan, but listen to it first, as the vocals are very extreme and difficult to digest for many listeners.
1. Chrysanthemums in Bloom
2. Revelation
3. My Days Until
4. Oceans of Soliloquy
5. Serpent of Old
6. Leviathan
7. The Fragrant Thorns of Roses
8. Birth and the Eleventh Moon
Approx. 50 minutes
| Deinonychus (CD) | 1999 | Ars metalli |
This album made me appreciate and recognize Deinonychus as a great band and made me like 'The ark of thought' as well. Deinonychus understands the art of creating very dark, emotionally complicated music using very simple song structures and repetitive melodies.
While Deinonychus' first two works are considered to be black metal, since 'The weeping of a Thousand Years' the music moved into a more doom/gothic direction. 'Deinonychus' moved even more into a doom direction, combining fast parts that refer to the band's past and some very slow parts, where the typical, crunchy guitar sound, reminding of bands like Katatonia, crashes the listener's soul.
Paradoxically, Marco's extreme, wailing screams, that scare off most listeners who don't like Deinonychus, give such a depth and dramatic strength to the music, that it's difficult to imagine how this music would sound without them. Contrary to other bands that try to use extreme lamenting screams (like f.i. Cultus Sanguine), here they sound real and not theatrical, as if somebody is in real pain and hopelessness. And it's the credibility of those emotions that most doom metal fans appreciate about Deinonychus, a credibility that you don't find in most black/gothic metal records.
1. You Died Before I Was Finished
2. Inspiring Vulnerable Thought
3. Like the Colour of Snow
4. One Day
5. Moments
6. Building the Paradox
7. This, a Murder of Crows
8. Balaam Wore Black
9. The Hollow Cage of My Ribs
10. Why is it That Angels Speak Such Evil?
Approx. 48 minutes
| Mournument (CD) | 2001 | Ars metalli |
'Mournument' promises to be Marco and Co.'s best album to date. Departing with the desolate intro 'Pluto's Ovoid Orbit' the album truly starts with 'Salus Decieved', a song so sad, melancholic and downright painful you start to wonder if it is humanly possibly to hurt this much. Marco's vocals are as tortured as always and sound so desperate it is hard to be left untouched by them.
Compared to the previous albums the music has become slower and lost almost all traces of Deinonychus' black-metal past. In fact because the music is so slow at times and because of the use of mournful keyboards (or a church bell), one might classify those parts as funeral doom. The faster parts keep the album flowing at a steady pace and make sure it never gets boring.
Aside from the normal tracks one can also find a splendidly done cover of the Candlemass track 'Ancient Dreams' on the album, of course interpretated in the Deinonychus way but still recognisable.
I don't actually think it is possible to put the pain and the sorrow on this album into words, you just need to experience it yourself. Suicide music in its purest form!
1. Pluto's Ovoid Orbit
2. Salus Deceived
3. Odourless Alliance
4. Tantalised In This Labyrinth
5. The Crimson Tides - Oceans Of Soliloquy Pt.II
6. Selek From Menes
7. A Misleading Scenario
8. The Obscure Process Of Metamorphous
9. Arrival In Mesopotamia
10. Ancient Dreams
11. Ascension - The 40th Day After Eastern
Approx. 57 minutes