Oblivion

RETURN FROM OBLIVION! Dodo Datel’s opening scream is likely to be the only thing anyone will remember from Galadriel’s third album right after the first listen. It’s not that this album is insignificant by any mean, but as every other release from this Slovakian band, it is far from consisting in a succession of radio hits. Actually, that may even be the most pleasant characteristic of early Galadriel works – the fact they never fall neither into sheer simplicity, nor into the opposite extreme of endless "progressive" wankery. Granted, no doom metal act is particularly renowned for using desperately simple patterns, but it’s partly because doom songs often clock around ten minutes or so, what enables much freedom in tempo, structure or atmosphere switches. By contrast most tracks on this album are half this length, but still manage to sound incredibly dense. Well, did you ever think three minutes long doom songs (which aren’t interludes of course) could exist? Indeed.

I said doom metal, but like its predecessor The Mirror of Ages the reality is a tad more complex – some kind of dark atmospheric/gothic/doom metal which escapes to any proper qualification. There are slow parts, but the overall pace is rather mid-tempo. Furthermore, as years went by female singer Sona Kozakova has become more and more present with her weird, twisted high-pitched voice (even if growled parts are still predominant), while the band has focused more and more on, precisely, atmosphere, rather than on actual riffs. Of course guitars still play a non-negligible part, and you’ll be able to hear many and high-quality leads (in Lavondyss for instance), nonetheless the songwriting is devoting a large part to moving semi-acoustic parts, vocal duets and of course keyboards.

Ah. You know, those semi-psychedelic synths which can almost be considered as a Galadriel trademark. This album is as keyboard-driven as it is guitar-driven; however the band managed to use synths and effects in such a clever fashion that it never shocks the listener a single bit, apart from a ridiculously small handful of overproduced-sounding moments. Suckin’ Temptation and their overload of shitty orchestrations it’s certainly not. Just another proof that keyboards are far from being evil per se, but are just like every other instrument, they have to be used in the right way (there exist many totally guitar-driven abominations after all, especially in the prog metal/shred realm – but it’s another matter). Consequently the overall mood is, again, standard pre-2003 Galadriel: chilling and misty, but nonetheless far from being as crushing or depressive as the majority of gothic/doom bands. I already used (coined?) the term of “light doom” to characterize early Galadriel’s music, and it could once again well apply to this release – the release which can probably be considered as their last doom-related material.

There’s nothing really wrong to say about it actually, as long as you don’t mind the keyboards, but in such a case Galadriel definitely isn’t the band for you (or maybe the debut album where keys are far more discrete). As said before the main strength of this band was to write very distinguishable songs while keeping the overall mood untouched. Granted, Oblivion lacks of really outstanding tracks, but that means there is no weak track either. Listeners who feel more attracted by gothic so-called “dark beauty” will certainly turn to the atmospheric Strokes of Desire, its erotically connoted lyrics and its as eerie as usual female vocals, while doom lovers will probably prefer the longer, slower and very impressive Lavondyss. Now my personal favourite would be It Ends When the Moon Loses its Face, first for its incredible title, then for its haunting keyboard leitmotiv, eventually because it may be the most internally coherent track, even if it relies on more than a verse/chorus pattern.

But once again, the choice is yours.

Highlights: On the Wings of Gwaihir, Strokes of Desire, Lavondyss, It Ends when the Moon Loses its Face...