PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Illimitable Dolor release an amazing self titled album which is a wonderful tribute to former musician and fellow The Slow Death band member Greg Williamson, who sadly passed away a while ago
Penned by Stuart Prickett (Guitar/Keys and Vocals) these four monumental tracks are as fine an example of Doom Metal as you will hear anywhere. By its very essence, Doom of this nature is fuelled by grief and torn emotions, and this comes across so cleanly here. As Stuart states
“This album actually means a bit more to me than most I’ve done as musically the album was all written in the days following the death of my best friend Gregg Williamson in December 2014, when I was miserable as fuck. Gregg was known to many as the vocalist from THE SLOW DEATH. Usually I can’t write when I’m feeling that way but these songs just came together so easily and I think it’s the heaviest and most miserable thing I’ve ever been part of but kind of special because of this. It was an outlet for how I was feeling at the time, an opportunity to do something useful rather than sitting around depressed.”
In some ways I found this a little difficult to review because of knowing about the huge emotional significance of what lay behind each composition but then I realised that the grieving process has in many ways helped these songs become the masterpieces they are.
Opener ‘Rail Of Moon, A Stone’ could not project the immense emotional level any better in my view, superbly crafted and meaningful riffs that just tear at the heartstrings, whilst delivering a sensory kick that is as good as it gets. ‘Comet Dies Or Shines’, trudges along at a deathly pace, adding such a vivid visual backdrop of despair and sorrow if the listener lets the music be absorbed. And why wouldn’t you? This is music that is meant to stir the soul, both in good ways and bad. ‘Salt Of Brazen Seas’ takes things to a different level in my ears and would be my choice for track of the album were it not for what can only be described as a masterpiece of epic proportions which comes in the form of closer ‘Abandoned Cuts Of River’, twelve minutes of music that just completely blew me away on so many different levels. From start to finish, this song just sent me to the depths of the dark rivers that run within my veins and brought me back to the shores of consciousness time and time again. Crushing as it is tender, as delicate as it is brutal, Doom does not come finer than this
What a triumph this album is, an amazing epitaph to a life and friend departed, and whilst our mortal souls are but fleeting visitors to this spinning globe, music last forever
Illimitable Dolor sees its release via Transcending Obscurity Records on March the 22nd
Track Listing ;
Rail Of Moon, A Stone
Comet Dies Or Shines
Salt Of Brazen Seas
Abandoned Cuts Of River
Illimitable Dolor line up ;
Stuart Prickett – Vocals/Guitar/Keys
Dan Garcia – Guitar
John McLaughlin – Drums
Guy Moore – Keyboards
Peter O’Donohue – Guitar
Daniel Finney – Bass
http://www.facebook.com/IllimitableDolor
