Downfall

I bought the “Through the Darkest Hour” cassette in 1995, having heard of the band and all, and for a week or so I didn’t listen to anything else; literally. I still can’t decide whether this magnum opus or Candlemass’ “Nightfall” can be considered the crowning achievement of the entire doom metal roster… the truth is that Robert Lowe and Co. created an absolute stunner half-way through their episodic but stellar career, a masterpiece that saw them embracing the epic doom metal idea whole-heartedly, leaving the progressive power metal infatuations from the first two efforts behind.

Under the glorious circumstances, the appearance of the album reviewed here shouldn’t have come as a very big surprise. After the peak a more or less natural change of gears should take place, right? The thing is that in this particular case we don’t have a very radical shift from the solid heavy formula although the guys’ decision to expand their palette is quite obvious with the noisier, psychedelic early Sabbath-esque guitar tone and the more dynamic delivery which looks back at the band’s first two but decidedly devoid of the officiant gravity of those. In fact, the epic side of the good old doom has been stripped to some extent although Lowe’s high-strung emotional vocals continue to lead the show assuredly, the man confident that his attached, pathos-induced antics would still fit the less absorbing musical setting and would invariably enchant the listener along the way.

Said setting strongly reminds at times of the works of the 90’s Swedish power/doom metal movement (Fifth Reason, Abstrakt Algebra, Memento Mori (earlier/later Hexenhaus), Memory Garden, etc) that may have borrowed a trick or two from the band’s first two instalments time and again, the more dynamic material (“Only This (And Nothing More)”, “These are the Nameless”) easily qualifying for any of the mentioned acts’ efforts including for the ones of another Swedish outfit, not very narrowly belonging to said movement, Morgana Lefay. The mournful, elegiac grandeur of the preceding full-length hasn’t been completely forgotten, and the poignantly lamentable hymns “Midnight Dreams” and “Concern” will nicely remind of its magnanimity only in a more minimalistic, more idyllic manner. To these ears the finest cut here is the semi-balladic marvel “Chapel of Burning”, a relatively peaceful but effective and memorable anthem, with the non-sensical noisorama “Elysium” and the short tribute to the grunge wave “Deathwish” on the opposite side of the spectre.

Not exactly an indication of a creative cul-de-sac, this album can’t be viewed a determined wink at the ruling at the time numetal vogues, excluding the mentioned miscalculated “Deathwish”, as the established doom template hasn’t been irrevocably violated; the guys were perfectly aware that releasing an immediate faithful follow-up to their finest, also darkest hour wouldn’t have generated the same positive impression. Besides, after Cathedral’s stoned “Carnival Bizarre” the situation within the doom metal carnival wasn’t going to be the same, and the effort here may have been the Americans’ elusive, meandering answer to the Brits’ spaced-out soundscapes. On the other hand, having just released a full-fledged doom metal recording, it didn’t make much sense for the band to throw everything on the wind and quickly embark on a new, more crooked journey… there was hesitation experienced on the creative front in their camp for sure, quite soon after the third album’s release at that, hence the more diverse, not very focused nature of this opus. The interesting thing is that the guys never waited for those hesitations to subside and acquire a clearer shape; they rushed to unleash them in their more dishevelled form probably curious to see how the 90’s audience would react to them.

As this album was very hard to find in Bulgaria at the time, I only got a hold of it some time in the early-00’s, after having already heard “Adagio”. In other words, for me this deviant recording, sandwiched between two great opuses, didn’t seem to be an irreparable blemish on the band’s reputation; on the contrary, it served as a goofy respite from the prevalent serious, academic lustre that the guys had chosen to represent throughout. Temptations of the kind were by all means forgiven during the uncertain, volatile 90’s; who would be looking to crucify a bunch of old school doom metallers for trying something a bit less loyal to the rigid canons of the genre? Especially when this offering remained just that, an isolated experiment which by no means had “betrayal” written on it even as an abbreviation… neither a flop nor a downfall by any stretch, it stands valid as an interesting footnote in the guys’ discography, a momentary, not extremely successful attempt at diversifying a potent, not very easy to dilute, formula.

Lowe’s involvement with Candlemass in the-00’s spelt the band’s demise, not very deliberately at first but still… that was some way to kill the competition by luring away their emblematic frontman and finish it off for good. Pernicious Swedes, what can you do; they couldn’t tolerate this nearly two-decade long rivalry, with their US counterparts even going stronger with the brilliant “Alone”… I mean, can you just sit down and wait until your competitor votes to serve a genuine, downright downfall some time in the uncertain future?

No way.

If you have ever listened to Solitude Aeturnus before then you know what to expect with this album, albeit slightly shorter and more to the point song structures. S.A. has been bringing metal listeners their brand of epic and traditional doom for quite some time and “Downfall” fits nicely into their discography. “Downfall” steers away from the pure traditional, epic doom that is their trademark and ventures into a more melodic, alternative-tinged doom style.

“Downfall” is nothing groundbreaking for the band or even for metal in general. For the most part, it combines the epic nature of Candlemass with a slightly more alternative or grungy feel to it at times. The entire album sees the tracks stay between the three and six minute range, so there are not any long, super epic tracks. For the most part, the band opted for a mid-tempo feel to the album. There are a few slow, gloom and doom tracks, such as “Together and Wither,” which shows S.A. plodding along like an elephant.

I find a lot of the guitar and drum work on this album really feels like grunge and neo-thrash from the early 1990’s. Some of the sections remind me of Nirvana or Godsmack. The similarities really are quite odd, given that S.A. has laid some of the doomiest tracks down that my ears have ever beheld. The opening riff to “Phantoms” sounds like something straight off of Fight’s “War of Words” album, while the beginning of “Midnight Dreams” sounds like a ringer for AIC. Don’t get me wrong, the tracks do have some pretty metallic sections, but ultimately they end up feeling less doomy than most of S.A.'s work.

The musicianship on this album is stellar. The guitars maintain a nice crunch on the heavier sections and the use of clean, undistorted passages accentuates the heaviness of the rest of the album. The solos are pretty rad, but nothing super special. The bass is buried in the mix for most of the album. There are sections where the bass comes out and demands attention in a D.D. Verni fashion and when those sections come up it sounds great, but they are few and far between. The drums are pretty standard, reminding me of a grungy style utilizing slow fills and next to no double bass drumming.

As with any S.A. album, the true standout is Robert Lowe. His vocals definitely do not disappoint, ranging from a quiet, chilling delivery to a louder, absurdly clear delivery. I’ve always found Lowe’s vocals to be a cross between Messiah of Candlemass fame and Sami (Albert Witchfinder) of Reverend Bizarre. His quieter vocals on this album put me in mind of Jerry Cantrell. When he lets it rip though, man, there’s no one quite like him. I would suggest checking out some of the other S.A. albums to see how great his vocals can be, as the production does seem to be a bit hollow with the vocals on this one.

All in all, “Downfall” is a good album by a stellar band. This is by far their most alternatively tinged work to date and definitely their least epic. If you’re really into grunge or alternative rock then you might want to check this album out. If you’re looking for really epic doom metal, then check out some other albums by S.A. This album is definitely not essential, but could be a starting point for some mainstreamers looking to take a step into the realms of doom.

Solitude Aeturnus have been one of the biggest names in epic doom metal for quite a while, combining the solid crushing doom metal of Candlemass with more up-tempo music has lead to them gathering up a fan base all of their own. Their history has been pretty much infallible, and Downfall is no exception, consisting of a wide range of some of their fastest material, and some of their most emotional, although there is a noticeable lack of dirge like slow monsters.

Downfall is one of the bands most riff centric albums. Sure, they've always had a lot of interesting riffs on offer, but also tended to have a lot of sections where the guitars were simply heavy backings to Rob Lowe's epic voice. But that rarely happens here, resulting in the songs being less epic, and instead are catchier little numbers. Songs like “Only This (And Nothing More)” aren't quite the same sort of epic affair we're used to, instead is a fairly straight forward deal, catchy and melodic, it's still got a "bigger" sound than most bands, but nothing in comparison to the epic nature other releases. This is the case with most of the album, catchy riffs which, despite being clearly doom, are more melodic doom than epic.

Is this a negative? Not as far as I'm concerned, this album shows a different side to the band. It's still a fairly extravagant display, with Lowe's fantastic soaring vocals still all over the place, however, there are still a few little oddities he throws in which break apart the smooth sailing nature of the album, Such as on the track "Elysium", which in itself is a throwaway featuring awfully choppy distorted vocals and a lack of music. The guitar soloing is in the same boat, still as stunning and majestic at ever. Just for the main part the riffs aren't, instead opting for addictive, melodic doom riffs that don't hit you too hard. Still there's a brilliant selection of riffs, they're just a new style. Stuff like "Together and Wither" are still huge heavy monsters, although even that song has a break from the monsterous doom, and breaks into a fairly speedy (in comparison to the rest of the song) almost southern riff for the solo.

Still, with the approach focussing on their more melodic, catchy side Downfall is still a Solitude Aeturnus album, and everything that makes this band still here in droves, just presented slightly differently. Lowe's vocal approach is still as godly as ever, just with less huge wailing and more aggression. The drumwork is exceptional, moving from the standard slow crushing doom rhythms to fast thrash sections flawlessly. And the riffs of course have been discussed in detail, with a more melodic direction, but still quite meaty. This is reflected in the track lengths, which are usually only around 5 minutes or so in length. The only possible flaw is that sometimes you’ll find yourself hoping for something a little bit more epic and huge, but the perfectly arranged up track listing gives you these tracks in a nice controlled manner, meaning you don’t get too much of either style in a row. Scattering out songs like Midnight Dreams with its enormous chorus, although the soft, haunting verse again demonstrates a different approach, between faster songs, like the Christian Death cover Deathwish, which is pretty much a thrash/punk track.

Downfall isn't the bands strongest release, but it's certainly up to Solitude Aeturnus quality, and for the reason is impossible to pass up. Better yet, it shows them focussing on a different element of their sound, making this album noticeably different to the rest of the band's discography. It’s got Solitude Aeturnus on the front, that should be enough to tell that quality is held within.