| Life Without Hope... Death Without Reason (Demo CDr/Cassette) | 2004 | None/Weird Truth |
The band bill themselves as a funeral doom act... well, I can agree with this, though I do find it a bit 'up tempo' for funeral doom. If I had to place them somewhere, it would be in the death/doom genre... but please, get those My Dying Bride images out of your head as Loss keep far, far away from any gothic and romantic cliches. This is doom meant to bring you down, and crush you under its weight, and damn it, that's the way it should be! You won't find any synths, or female vocals here, nosir!
I suppose, if I had to make comparisons, the most apparent to me, would be a slightly 'sped up' Thergothon, with hints of Skepticism (especially when it comes to vocals, though with Loss they are more up front in the mix... perhaps even a bit too much, but it doesn't take anything away from the music). Certainly not bad company to be in.
...and what is this I hear on the closer, 'Cut Up, Depressed And Alone'? Why yes, I do believe that would be clean guitar leads, with growled vocals over them. A nice touch, to be sure... and Loss pull it off really well. Indeed, the sometimes chugging, other times soaring guitars are the highlight of this demo. Loss is the type of doom you will want to hear when you get tired of all the synths, and 'romantic' trappings (notice, the last track is not called 'Razors, Sadness, And Solitude'... proving that Loss don't cloak their pain in some tapestry of false beauty). This is no-nonsense, straight-up doom that hits you from the start, and doesn't let go until the end... so throw away your synths, and pick up 'Life Without Hope... Death Without Reason' as soon as it's released. You won't be sorry.
1. Coffin Nails - Intromancy
2. Conceptual Funeralism Unto The Final Act (Of Being)
3. Cut Up, Depressed And Alone
Approx. 19 minutes
| Worship / Loss Split (7") | 2005 | Painiac |
There's been a lot of discussion about the 'new' Worship on the internet over the past few years, mostly centered around whether or not the band would be worth anything without the contribution of the late Max Varnier. Well, the answer is pretty easy. If you thought Worship was all about Max and the cult surrounding the band, you won't like the new material. Simple as that. On the other hand, if you thought that Worship was about hope-crushing über-doom, this new one goes pretty well with the old material. The new track lies somewhere between the sound on the 'Last X Before Doomsday' album and that on the various splits. Not as empty-sounding as the album, but not as raw as the splits. Besides that, this still sounds like Worship to me. It's slow, heavy doom, it's got that characteristic lead guitar and deep growls, plus it's got a new style acoustic guitar interlude to spice things up a little. Simply good stuff, and my expectations for the upcoming 'DOOOM' album are high.
Loss is, like I said, a newcomer in the scene. Their demo was released as a tape by Weird Truth in 2004 [edit by editor: It was also released on CDr by the band], and I was very impressed by their mournful, melodic funeralish doom style. This new track has a bit of a different approach, but for some reason both the old and new material remind me most of Mournful Congregation. That is to say, Loss manage to sound a lot like MC in terms of atmosphere, without sounding like a copycat. What we're left with is no-frills melodic modern doom, which should be a treat for any doomster. Listening to the last fading riff on 'An Ill Body Seats My Sinking Sight', I know Loss will be able to make an absolutely killer debut album in the future.
So, yet another quality 7" from the dark forges of Belgium. Fred Painiac has an ear for this kind of stuff, and it's possible to blindly buy stuff from the suicidal doom series. You just know it's gonna be good. This latest split has some macabre cover art by N. Solieri, and it's limited to 400 pieces. So, hop to it!
Life is pain, get used to it...
Worship:
1. Devived
Loss:
2. An Ill Body Seats My Sinking Sight
Approx. 16 minutes
| Life Without Hope... ...Death Without Reason (CD) | 2006 | Parasitic / Deathgasm |
The first three tracks have been reviewed by Matt Zuchowski earlier (here). I would like to add that I find them to be calm, nihilistic and utterly depressive. I would also drag in comparisons with Katatonia and Nortt. The rest of the information has already been well described in the earlier review. Have a peek at that one if you want to know more.
The last two tracks were recorded before the actual demo. They mainly differ from the others in their increased black metal elements and guitars that sound far more raw. This makes the music aggressive rather than depressive. It's still deep and doomy, but with much more of a bite. The recording itself is of low quality and a higher quality recording might make all of this sound a lot better.
Loss is a band that might appeal to Worship fans, or anyone else that is into music that is both extreme and depressive at the same time. At least you won't find yourself thinking "This is not negative enough".
1. Coffin Nails (Intromancy)
2. Conceptual Funeralism Unto The Final Act (Of Being)
3. Cut-Up, Depressed And Alone
4. Brave (Katatonia Cover)
5. The Barebacked Burial Of A Torn Angel
Approx. 35 minutes