Silent Stream of Godless Elegy
Iron (CD) 1996 Leviathan
This earlier album of the Czech band Silent Streams of Godless Elegy is quite a bit rawer than their 1998 release 'Behind the Shadows'. The band plays a rather original mix between death metal and doomy, melodic metal, resulting in varied songs with melodic riffs, grunts and clean vocals with folky touches. The music and the male vocals remind me of Visceral Evisceration at times. All in all this is a very nice album, containing a lot of different tracks and sounds. Some songs go rather much in the death metal direction, but without the blastbeats that are typical for pure death metal bands. Other songs can hardly be called metal, until suddenly the grunts pop up... Next to the heavy guitars, there also is a violin that adds melancholic and folk elements to the songs. Personally, I like their later sound better, but these early efforts are worth a listen too!	1. Ugly Jewel 2. Passion & Desire 3. Iron Mask 4. Last... 5. Desolated Remain 6. Only Stream 7. Crying Heaven 8. Burned by Love to Christ 9. Bittery Sweet 10. Naked Susan 11. Amber Sea 12. Apotheosis Approx. 45 minutes
Reviewed by: Heiko Isselee
Behind the Shadows (CD) 1998 Redblack/MAB
Some time ago, I bought this album on the advice of a friend during one or other show. He knew I'm a fan of doom-metal and told me that I would probably love this album. To be honest, the album didn't do a lot to me the first few times I listened to it. But it grew on me enormously. The album contains 11 tracks plus an extra bonus song. Silent Streams of Godless Elegy, a Czech Republic based band, plays dark doomy metal, with melodic guitar riffs, acoustic guitar parts, violin, violoncello and some flute. In some songs, a female backing voice is added to the male grunts and 'clean' vocals. Tempo varies from up-tempo folk-like rhythms to slow doom-metal tempo. The booklet features (apart from a very red coloured frontcover), black and white pages with lyrics and drawings of leaves and other nature inspired scenes. The last regular song on the album is a covertrack of Dead Can Dance's 'Cantara', a song with only acoustic instruments in addition to a female chanting voice. The bonus track 'I Come and Stand at Every Door' has only female vocals. Lyrics are in English, which results in huge accents in the singing.	1. Wizard 2. Garden 3. The Last Place 4. Old Women´s Dance 5. When Sun Rises For The Last Time 6. Summoning Of The Muse 7. Ghost 8. Embrace Beyond 9. Black Tunnel 10. Shadow 11. Cantara 12. I Come And Stand At Every Door Approx. 51 minutes
Reviewed by: Heiko Isselee