ALBUM REVIEW: Illimitable Dolor – Leaden Light

Here I review another release from Transcending Obscurity Records, the new album from ILLIMITABLE DOLOR ! This should be some very promising and atmospheric Death-Doom Metal! Set for release on March 20th.

1. Armed He Brings The Dawn starts things off with samples of storms, an atmospheric way to begin things. Beautifully depressive, doomy riffs soon join with simplistic drums and stunning organs. Creating a haunting, slow paced and rather melancholic impact, things are set in. The grisly vocals add some brutality to the sombre instruments, a gorgeously rich and dark soundscape is complete. The emotionally and sonically crushing music is performed to perfection with lovely lead guitars elevating the depressive mood slightly. Decimating waves of doomy melancholy hit with total impact each time, a stunning opus to begin with. Vastly drawn out guitars and drums bring slow, foreboding touches to the onslaught of depression and miserable, yet tranquil music. Fantastic!
2. Soil She Bears follows in the bleak footsteps of the opening track. More drawn out, gorgeous soundscapes created by melancholic guitars, hard hitting drums and a crushing, emotional vocal performance mixed with organs gives us more misery in some of the most gorgeously smooth Death-Doom I have heard in a while. The melody of the strings and piano added to the mix allows you to be further filled with sorrow by the sheer cathartic energy this release has to offer. A diverse and unique take on the genre, this track was absolutely excellent!
3. Horses Pale And Four grinds back into hard-hitting riffs, with a primal longing to the sound, something both devastatingly sad and also beautiful is how I would, yet again, describe this track. The music is so well produced with waves of Doom Metal hitting like bricks, capturing every emotional note gorgeously from the whole band.  Dread is in the sound, with dissonant edges adding some harsher vibes to the soaring peace of the music, especially within the organ sections. Vibrant, grooving riffs really drive the whole piece into heaviness but not in a way that is at all obnoxious. The ambient sections of the song with some nice, slightly more technical, guitar work was an awesome edition that was completely jaw-dropping. Utterly beautiful, monstrously heavy and totally tranquil. Another brilliant track!
4. Leaden Light Her Coils opens with crystalline pianos, setting an even more (if that was possible) sombre mood for the piece. The soaring groove of the guitars and hammering drums soon rejoin for more monolithic atmospherics and momentous intensity. The gruesome vocals have some blackened touches further adding to the chilling experience of the track. Hideously harsh vocals over such beautiful music creates a contrast that is profoundly excellent and hypnotically stunning. The lead guitars, once more, being used to elevate the pace slightly into something brighter which further juxtaposes the darkness of the track in a brilliant manner. The more traditionally Death Metal sections add some crushing brutality that is still slowly paced and incredibly peaceful to behold, an excellent mix. The piano outro ended the piece perfectly. Another monstrously heavy, sublime and wonderful song!
5. 2.12.14 is the finale for this amazing album. Setting in with ambience, followed by drum hits that really pack a punch. Clean guitars soon join the mix to give us even more tranquil soundscapes filled with emotion. This surreal and bleak final song puts you in a trance with such stunning instrumental work that is totally captivating. Slowly more distorted guitars are reintroduced for the complete and crushing experience that this band have to offer. With decimating tones and a mix that has been consistently perfect to allow for total impact. The spoken word sections are a haunting addition as are the demonic growls and lead guitars the soon follow. A gorgeous ending to the album that bows out with total grace and style.

This is some gorgeously depressive, crushing and brutal Death-Doom with incredible songwriting, diverse soundscapes and brilliant execution. An absolutely must for fans of sonically intense and emotionally crushing Doom Metal, with harsher Death Metal vocals. -9/10