Forever Bound to Nothingness

French band Desolation Triumphalis was formed from the (ideological) ruins of Kristallnacht and it's nice to hear all the good musical elements from the latter are now developed even further with this album. Desolation Triumphalis' music is very mid-tempo and depressing with main importance on raw guitar sound, presence of synths and very memorably painful vocals, very similar to those of Kristallnacht.

Forever Bound to Nothingness begins with strong synths after which the guitars join in. The song is quite simple but haunting in its totally slow journey onwards. The second song has more majestic feel to it once again surrounded by melancholic synths. This beginning melody is very strong and it gets the album started with little more energy than the mourning opening track.

In some parts, there are specially hypnotizing guitar work and multiple string presence that I find among the best things in this kind of music. Condemned, track 3, has this beautifully sorrowful main melody that gets developed further during the middle part of the song. During this track, if not earlier, it becomes clear how much the synths sound like Kristallnacht, and I always found Kristallnacht's synths very skillfully presented.

One more important thing in this album is that occasionally a real violin can be heard sorrowfully adding to the created music. The whole album ends with unforgettable violin melody once the song Embracing Void and Darkness has faded away. The violins in that song and Arcane of Supreme Rise also sound little like My Dying Bride. Of all available depressive black metal I find this French band among the more important. Kristallnacht had many great yet faster and often simpler songs, and what Desolation Triumphalis does is to create more haunting material and atmospheres from similar sound (instruments and vocals) elements.

If one is to believe the booklet, “Forever Bound to Nothingness” is the last release from this French black metal horde. You could also say that it’s the Kristallnacht full-length that never was released. Well, at least Lenrauth & Co. bow out with grace. If you’ve missed the band’s EP releases, don’t worry, all those tracks can be found here too.

Musically “Forever Bound to Nothingness” is in the vein of Kristallnacht’s “Warspirit” demo; raw black metal with symphonic keyboards. Also the sound itself is very similar to that of “Warspirit”. However, while “Warspirit” was fast in tempo almost all the time, this stuff is mostly played in a slow/mid-tempo depressive manner and the music is also more varied than that of Kristallnacht. While Kristallnacht was all about war, retribution and hatred, Desolation Triumphalis seems to be more introverted and contemplative. Simply put, you could say that this is a slower version of “Warspirit” without the NS ideology.

“The Eternal Revolution” is the track with the most fast parts. Shatraug of Horna has written the music to this track, so that might explain the fast parts. Well, I think it’s nice to have a track that stands out a bit from the rest. Desolation Triumphalis also employ real violins on this album and they enhance the sorrowful atmosphere of the music. I was a bit sceptical to using violins in raw black metal but here it really works. Fans of Kristallnacht should check this out and so should everyone else into depressive black metal.