Lumo

In chemistry jargon LUMO is the acronym standing for Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital, but it has nothing to do with this album. At least I guess so, because I don’t know what “molecular orbitals metal” could be about. Well, lumo is then likely to be a Finnish name, as pretty much everything I know about As Divine Grace is they’re a Finnish gothic/doom metal band. And there isn’t much more to know about them, really.

Because, this album is terribly bland. The production to begin with is pretty flat, melting the music into some puddle from where nothing really distinguishable emerges. Not that there is any static noise of any kind, nor that the guitars are particularly raspy, nor the vocals ear-scorching – there isn’t anything “raw” here in the usual sense of the term. But, from the beginning to the end, every instrument seems to show the same volume without the listener being able to determine which one is mixed up or down. Further, the drums sound a tad weird, and I was about to shout a loud – TRIGGERS! – when I thought it may rather be only a mixing problem.

The sound wouldn’t be such an issue if the songwriting was inspired, instead of what it perfectly mirrors the production – desperately flat as well. Actually, this album reminds me of the first Galadriel release, minus the talent. Empire of Emptiness also showed a terrible production, as well as this kind of music I’d previously qualified as “light doom”; meaning, doom metal without the crushing, oppressive or even suffocating atmosphere of most bands. As Divine Grace may come from the country of Shape of Despair, but they’ve nothing to do with the funeral doom their fellows-countrymen are known for. Here the tracks are of course slow, but devoid of any overwhelming down-tuned guitar, sinister keyboard chords and the likes, the production making all this impossible anyway. No. As with Galadriel, keyboards lean far more towards a gothic atmosphere, reinforced by the predominent use of a female singer.

But first Galadriel isn’t the best gothic/doom band ever, and secondly As Divine Grace isn’t nearly as good as Galadriel. The female singer doesn’t show any taste for pop-ish style, and manages to sing right from the beginning to the end, but nonetheless sounds rather emotionless. Coming to the scarce totally off-key male clean vocals, the only thing I can say is: forget them! Then the pile of atmospheric backing keyboards have already been heard a million times before, while there is far too much acoustic guitar for a doom release. Songs like Gash, Grimstone, Rosy Tale or the instrumental Out of the Azure mostly consist in long keyboards-driven muffled-down breaks where nothing except the listener’s boredom seems to progress a single bit. Almost every track could have been reduced to half of its length without losing anything. And it drags on for more than one hour...

Something however makes me think something really worthwhile could have emerged from this atmospheric insipidity. Often, when the guitars take the main part, some well-crafted melodies make a sudden apparition, like a ray of sunshine by a gloomy, cloudy day. The opening air of In Low Spirits, for instance, is a pure delight. Further, on another island, it’s a pretty catchy chorus who will retain one’s attention. There’s even an entire really inspired song, Perpetual. No wonder, it’s the opening track, as often in similar cases. A bit higher-paced, more guitar-driven with a hooking leitmotiv (I’m still reluctant to use the word riff when dealing with this kind of doom metal), and exhibiting an odd bass-driven break, it’s definitely worth a listen – as the One Lost Child in this overall mediocrity, to parody Galadriel.

...Who, undoubtedly, have done all that better.

Highlights: Perpetual