| Lamentations of innocents (CD) | 1997 | Sheer Records |
After a simply stunning classical intro, we are immediately thrown into a pool of misery and sadness. Slow, mournful, with painfully wailing vocals, this album sounds like a constant cry of desperation arising from the depths of a solitary soul, trapped forever in a prison of sorrow and desolation. Never harsh or brutal, the music drags itself forth at an uncomfortably slow tempo, always painful, always depressive, always hopeless. Soft, haunting background choirs, perfect use of flute and violin (the combination of these instruments on the same album almost never fails to send shivers down my spine) and whispers of anguish and uncertainty about one's fate, complete this unusually sombre and dark picture.
I already spoke about the 'weak' production; actually it's not weak at all, although quite unusual for the atmospheric doom death genre. The sound is muddy, dark and unclear, while the guitars seem to be suppressed and subdued. But this only adds extra depth to the creation of such dark, hopeless soundscapes.
I really wonder how many uninitiated doom fans can bear the extremely desolate, bleak nature of this work. The lamentations of the innocents echo through your head long after this album is finished. However, if you are into hopeless and depressive atmospheric doom death, you should already own this album or go and buy it immediately -if you are able to find it.
1. Lovely
2. Affliction
3. The torment in blind eyes
4. Damocles gladius
5. Unflading sorrow
6. Prayer for love
7. Luck of tears (bonus)
8. Echoes of my sadness (bonus)
Approx. 57 minutes
| Time ruins also beauty (CD) | 1997 | Sheer Records |
Dissolving of Prodigy know, like many Central European bands, how to make their music atmospheric without losing that heavy edge which is necessary in the dark metal realm. The professional use of flutes, violins and acoustic parts is a consequence of the musical maturity of this sadly overlooked band. Add to all this their enthousiasm and conviction about what they are doing, and you get this top notch atmospheric doom-death release.
After a very appropriate intro with acoustic guitars and wailing voice, the familiar doomy wall of sound takes us to the land of despair and sorrow in the first track 'The land of bird's spirit'. Even more impressive is the opening sequence of the second track 'my numb wings'. In your face hand palm muted guitars and a deep grunt make place for an unconventional wall of sound guitar sequence, which sounds at the same time quite familiar to the ears (because it reminds of the almost atonal atmospheric romanticism of tracks like 'The snow in my hand' or 'Turn loose the swans', both belonging to MDB's finest moments).
That those guys also know how to use a violin, becomes evident in the third track, with its moving, sad violin intro. An overload of (unprofessionally used) violins, keyboards and other atmospheric equipment which comes straight from the book of 'romantic doom' has ruined many an album before, but bands like this Dissolving of prodigy remind us that those instruments can be a worthy addition when used properly.
This album is not easy to find because of the quite poor distribution of their Czechian label. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to all atmospheric doom fans who can lay their hands on it.
1. The land of bird's spirit
2. My numb wings
3. Dazbog's heart
4. Time ruins also beauty
5. The gate to the hereafter
6. Celebration of trambled flowers
7. Unfilled longings
8. In memory
Approx. 60 minutes
| Louceni se svetem pozemskym (CD) | 2002 | Crystal Production |
So what to say about this album? All lyrics, titles, even the accompanying words in the booklet are written in the Czech language. They added English translations of the lyrics, but even the credits and thanks list are in Czech. Apparently the new members brought a very ethnic, local folklore influence to the band. This album reminds me quite a lot of their compatriots of Silent Stream of Godless Elegy from whom they recruited the bass guitar player. The influences include folky melodic lines and male vocals that vary from clean singing to a hissing kind of scream. The slow, mournful doom death from the first two albums has been replaced by a slightly more up tempo, melodic/atmospheric kind of death/doom metal.
After the initial disorientation, I started liking the genuine feel of the album. The keyboards play a not unimportant role in the background, while the guitars carry often very beautiful melodies. Good enough to make me decide to call this a good album. By which I'm even willing to forget that 'Pocta Morane' starts like a folklore schlager, that 'Prvni Lekce Radosti' is a song to happily jump along with and I won't mind the useless instrumental outro as well. Folk influences enough, but nevertheless this remains a decent doom album, although in my opinion not as strong as the first two albums. Some songs are pretty catchy and keep echoing through my head for quite a while after I heard the album. Which is something that cannot be said by all releases we get to hear these days.
Probably this fresh line-up will still grow a little. We can only look forward to the next album. Until then, give this album a try and give it some time to grow on you.
1. Stara Zeme
2. Mohylove Hroby
3. Rujana
4. Divci Valka
5. Pocta Morane
6. Bohu Nemily
7. Horici Mosty
8. Zrcadlo Nasich Skutku
9. Promeny Slov
10. Prvni Lekce Radosti
11. Jedenact
Approx. 49 minutes