Riding Our Black Oceans

Shortly after releasing their seminal album 'The Gloomy Reflection of Our Hidden Sorrows', Cenotaph saw the departure of two important members and were in need of replacements. This led to the recruitment of vocalist Edgardo González and bassist Fernando Castellón Garcilazo in place of bass and vocal multi-tasker Daniel Corchado, and last but not least guitarist Julio Viterbo. The resulting output is something quite different to what one might expect based on their debut release, but perhaps unsurprising given the lineup changes.

Let's get down to it. Is 'Riding Our Black Oceans' another classic nugget of cavernous gritty death metal? Well, not really, at least not in the sense that Gloomy Reflections... was a 'classic'. But boy is this album brimming with creativity and I promise it will not leave you bored, especially if you have an ear for twisted death metal melodies. Given the context of the time in which this album was released, 1994, this material is surprisingly original. At times, certain musical passages are downright beautiful and compositionally these songs are terrific.

As far as the instrumentation goes, everyone puts on a good performance. The guitarists often play dual harmonies that complement each other and add depth. Where the occasional solo can be found, it is well placed and gives texture to the music without overstaying its welcome. Óscar Clorio's drumming is great as usual, with plenty of variety and adaptiveness to be found. Lastly, and perhaps the most noticeable to listeners of Gloomy Reflection..., the vocals are significantly more high register than the band's prior efforts. At moments throughout the album it reminds the listener of the shrill shrieks found in black metal, and yet they remain firmly anchored in a death metal vocal approach. On top of this all, the production is solid and there is a nice clarity and balance across the different instruments being played.

I stated earlier that this album wasn't a classic in the sense that Gloomy Reflection... was, but I think it is fair to say it's a classic in its own right. It may not have that claustrophobic and doomy aspect Gloomy Reflection... possesses, but for every ounce of grime and atmosphere that is forfeited, there is an equal amount of creativity and melody put in its stead. I highly recommend this album, check it out.

After making a really fucking powerful debut album and losing Daniel Corchado, Cenotaph returns with Riding Our Black Oceans. And even though you could classify this as melodic/technical death metal, it's pretty damn unique. Maybe you could see some similarities with At the Gates early work, Misanthrope, Liers In Wait, and even Sacramentum, but the sound on here is highly original.

For the most part, tremolo picking dominates the album, with strange counterpoints often popping up. When they do decided to break into some thrashy riffing, it's usually not for long. Acoustic passages are utilized as well, but always very briefly, except for the bewitching title track. The album flows by as a whole, which is really nice, but it does make individual moments rather difficult to remember.

As a bonus, Julio Viterbo, the riff master in both Shub Niggurath and The Chasm shows up on here. He provides tasty solos and a good deal of powerful riffs. Oscar's drumming is very tight, as usual, and I believe that he had a great amount of influence over the song writing, as it seems to be a very drum oriented album. The vocals are pretty raw, more raspy but deranged, a massive departure from the growls of the first album.

In many ways, this album reminds me of The Chasm's debut, with it's long songs, dry production, and bizarre ideas. Cenotaph, however, opt for an even more eccentric approach which is overall less doomy and more technical. The overall mood is one of estangement, alienation, rather than the somber mood of Procreation of the Inner Temple.

I can't reccommend this to everyone, simply because it's rather hard to get into. It's a very enjoyable album, but the technicality works against it. On a side note, I'd like to add that the packaging of this album is one of the most effective I have ever seen at evoking the spirit of the music and concepts contained therein.