Band: Aeonian Sorrow
Album title: Katara
Release date: 1 November 2023
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Melancholic Metal, Doom/Death Metal, Gothic Metal

Tracklist:
01. Anemos
02. Elumia
03. Ashes And Death   
04. Her Torment
05. Katara
06. Forbidden Cry
07. Ikuinen Suru

We had to wait over five years for a new full-length from these Finnish / Greek masters of melancholic doom, Aeonian Sorrow. Ok, in between, the band released an EP, but then many problems followed, and consequently also line-up changes. In spite of everything, the band around two vocalists, Gogo Melone (a well-known and very active figure inside the doom metal scene) and new growler Joel Notkonen, who has only recently joined the band, did an album that will undoubtedly end up on many doom metal top 10 charts.

Their melancholic, heavy atmospheric sound and tumultuous gothic instrumentation are something that you should be familiar with if you have ever listened to any of many "beauty and the beast" gothic/doom/death metal formations, though, Aeonian Sorrow has its flavour. Katara, an album thematically based on the cursed and mystical place Katara, which is a mountain pass in the Pindus mountains in northern Greece, exceeds the band's highly acclaimed debut, Into The Eternity A Moment We Are (2018). The sound here is even more cathartic and has some intriguingly alluring melodies and rhythms, which are constantly escalating into some climax. Maybe sometimes it takes too long to achieve that certain moment, and the band risks falling into monotony, but once there, the listener is most certainly rewarded.

The sound is dense and thick, with an almost cinematic ambient feel. The band knows how to conjure incredible experiences for the listener, and even though Gogo Melone is not a par excellence singer, she delivers some top-notch vocal melodies that can easily drive your imagination into surreal places, especially in symbiosis with gentle melancholic piano touches, haunting atmospheric synths and soul gripping melodies. Gentle yet varied female and harsh male vocals often work out as a conversation between good and evil, thus deepening the already dark atmosphere. The band also adds some special insertions, like, for example, folk elements, that can be heard in "Katara" and at the end of "Her Torment", to make the whole thing a little more edgy.

Songs like "Anemos", "Elumia", "Ashes And Death", or "Forbidden Cry" are true masterpieces of melancholic doom metal. I was especially impressed by the solemn ending of the song "Elumia", but you need to listen to the entire album to get its true power. The only song that I find a little bit hard to digest is the album titled "Katara", but that could be just me and my taste because, in general, there is nothing wrong with it, just doesn't pull me in like the rest of them. Then the album ends with sorrowful tones of deeply melancholic "Ikuinen Suru", which slowly and smoothly builds up in density until it offers more than a decent ending to this album.

Aeonian Sorrow might not be a band that offers something new or innovative but rather sticks to the old-school formula of how melancholic, atmospheric and dark doom metal should sound and does it with grace and perfection. In the words of Gogo Melone: "The path to success is full of heavy stones and very lonely so we do what we can and continue writing music from our hearts". Yes, Gogo, sometimes there's a price to pay to make something that will make a heart of doomed souls beat faster. Isn't that the essence of melancholic doom metal or however you want to call it?

The review was written by Tomaz
Rating: 8/10

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