Tristitia - Garden of Darkness (2002) - 192 CBR

Tristitia - Garden Of Darkness (2002)rnrnGenre: Doom MetalrnrnTracklist:rn1. The Entrance 2:08rn2. Path I (Beholder\'s Tears) 6:19rn3. Path II (Black Godz Serenade - Part I) 1:34rn4. Path III (As Death Says Mine) 13:13rn5. Path IV (When Tears Cry) 11:58rn6. Path V (Beyond The 7th Valley) 1:43rn7. Path VI (There Will Never Be Another Dawn) 10:20rn8. Path VII (Black Godz Serenade - Part II) 1:56rn9. Path VIII (Tears Of The Moon) 9:07rnTotal playing time 58:18rnrnLineup:rnStefan Persson - VocalsrnLuis Galvez - Guitars, Bass, and KeyboardsrnAlessio - DrumsrnrnBefore I begin, please note that this band is not to be confused with Tristania of Norway, who plays Gothic Metal. Tristitia play Doom Metal. Tristitia are a band that has confused me once again. They seem to be one of those bands that have the key ingredients to make masterpieces of metal, and yet they don’t know in which order to put in the ingredients, or how much of each is required. For instance, on their last album “The Last Grief” they used virtually Power Metal-style vocals mingled with beautiful atmosphere, but played at a really slow Doom tempo. To classify it much more clearly, “The Last Grief” was effectively Power Metal meets Doom Metal. Personally, I did not enjoy that release, predominantly because I dislike Power Metal in majority for their vocals and feel they have no real place in metal, and especially not in Doom Metal. Yet on this album “Garden of Darkness,” Tristitia appear to finally have found the correct order and amount for all the ingredients to come together for the metal masterpiece. This appears to be due to the band deciding that in order to create a real Doom atmosphere, harsh vocals were required. Anyway, onto the review…rnrnI will be blunt about this; I love this album. There are simpering melodies from the lead guitar (no doubt taken from previous albums) that really gives a beautiful atmosphere to the music. They sound very Spanish, and with a name like “Luis Galvez,” he may very well be Spanish, despite the band itself being Swedish. To reiterate my point, the guitars play a huge part in this Black/Doom masterpiece, for they create the most beautiful atmosphere mingled with touches of darkness and hell created by Stefan Persson’s Black Metal vocal styling. In some songs, his vocals vary from Black Metal vocals to soft whispers to accompany the sublime guitar work. The play does vary from the plodding pace it tends to trundle along at to some short, sharp bursts, epitomised in “There Will Never be Another Dawn.” One thing I find odd on this album, however, is that most people would describe Doom as a somewhat “depressive” genre. In most circumstances, they’d be right (e.g. Funeral Doom). But this release doesn’t feel depressive at all, really. I feel this is due to the guitars emitting a more “hopeful” sound as opposed to the dark and depressive guitar work found in bands like Skepticism. Occasionally the play will drift to dreamy/distant music, but even songs like “When Tears Cry” reveals hopeful aspects. One such example is the guitar passage found in the seventh minute.rnrnThere are also some sensational ambient tracks on this album too. “Tears of the Moon” is one that I’d recommend to everybody who can appreciate the beautiful lunar picture presented to you in musical form. “Beyond the 7th Valley” is another wonderful ambient track. You can actually see yourself sat on a beach in Spain, watching the Sun go down. It’s quite amazing how much the guitar work in this album conveys on the ambient tracks, and something that I recommend all to listen to.rnrnA particular favourite song from this album would be “As Death Says Mine.” I adored the lyrics, the mazy and melodic intro, and the drawn-out length of the song. There’s real emotion in that song, expertly conveyed by Stefan Persson’s vocals.rnrnAs a final opinion, you must buy this if you are a fan of Doom Metal, and especially if your favourite sub-genre of Doom Metal is Black/Doom. You may even enjoy this release if you’re a fan of slow Black Metal too, although the length may be beyond your liking. Overall, I can find no real faults with this masterpiece. The guitar work is spectacular, the music as a whole is beautifully atmospheric, the vocals achieve a perfect collaboration with the music to form the ultimate dark symphony, and the lyrics top it all off with some really heartfelt songs like “As Death Says Mine.” Quite simply, this is an essential release for any Doom Metal fan that enjoys a beautiful atmosphere in their Doom. So stay away, Drone Doom fans! (Loki of hyperblastmetal.com)rnrnBitrate: 192 CBRrnrnTracker: Komodo Village