Maidens - Eve Of Absolution


First off, Eve Of Absolution is expertly produced album, tight and crisp this recording sounds clean and clear. You can easily pick up all the nuance of this modern doom album in the vein of Kylesa but with the burnt rock feel of Rwake. It’s mathy enough to remind me of late nineties hardcore without sounding cold or angular. The sound is a mixture of extremely atmospheric flourishes, and crushingly effected guitars. Like Envy and very straightforward post metal. Experimental but always listenable. It plods along at it’s slow doomed pace.

Discord Storm On The Horizon starts with space-post metal instrumental atmosphere that makes me want to jump out of my skin but soothes the senses in a grandiose industrial sort of way, like a gigantic rusted engine, scraping to life. A modern nightmare, beautiful and haunting. I applaud the intelligent guitar and synth playing, they build a frightening landscape I am increasingly drawn to.
They are verified geniuses at filling the entire canvas with sound. On Eve Of Absolution the tone is amazingly dense in parts but they are aware of dynamics, calming the mixture with a Romani sound of plucked notes. This wave of sound moves expertly into the straight forward gloom and rock of Upheaval She Has Abandoned Us. Angry and self indulging lyrics to an always steady and unobtrusive backbeat, this could have been my soundtrack to get me through high school. This is some seriously transcendent metal, I assume they will be huge, fingers crossed. If that isn’t in the cards for some ridiculous reason, this album is already as huge as it gets.

I’m pretty sure Maidens would think so, I’m pretty sure the sound on this album is what they were shooting for. The production is crystal clear and the music is so gritty and dark and doom, it sets a new template for stoner metal bands to strive to achieve. Their handle on gloomy, blackened post metal is unsurpassed, a must have for doom die hards.

--Plague Rat




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