| Tears And Blood (Promo) | 2000 | None |
The Russian band S.C.A.L.P. (apparently an abbrivation for "Sense's Calming At dead's Lament Places") was once a pure death metal band, but as the years went by, they have grown into a melodic death metal band with a steadily increasing amount of doom in it. However they do still have their biggest foot on the melodic death metal side of the line.
As you can see by the track names, this is a very romantic release. The weeping, mournful vocals make a very distinct atmosphere of romanticism. Talking about atmosphere, most of the tracks are actually quite atmospheric thanks to inventive use of piano and synths. The music is often far too up-tempo to be compared to My Dying Bride, but the similarities are there. S.C.A.L.P. is just a lot more lively.
All in all, this is probably best labeled as a sad, doomy melodic death metal release in the vein of Sentenced. I have never heard Sentenced myself, but many people keep comparing S.C.A.L.P. to them so I'm pretty sure they have a lot in common. The music is good, but doomsters won't necessarily enjoy it just because it's doomy. If this review has made you curious about their sound then you can check out a heap of their mp3's on their soundclick site: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/scalpmusic.htm
1. Out Of Madness
2. A Heart Was Beating
3. A Heart.../continue/
4. Broken Pines
5. Tears And Blood
6. Tears.../continue/
7. Removal /remastering/
8. Who Dared To Say /remastering/
Approx. 48 minutes