Elegeion
The Last Moment

Almost a solo project formed by the singer Anthony (also guitar and bass), accompanied by his fellow musicians James (drums, bass, acoustic guitar, percussion) and Dieudonnee (female vocals and piano), the Australian band Elegeion arrives at their second release, signing with the American Dark Symphonies.

The album begins with the title track, where guitars characterized by riffs reminiscent of the more melodic doom metal are overlaid with skillful electric guitar notes, a string quartet that enhances the whole without ever becoming excessive or sappy… A male voice with its own style, it is not growl, it is not clean… it is a hoarse, almost whispered voice, used at its best in only two tracks. Everything culminates with the arrival of the beautiful Dieudonnee's voice… unlike the increasingly numerous colleagues in the Gothic Metal field, the Australian seems to cross the now narrow and repetitive boundaries of the genre. It feels like dealing with a pop singer like Britney Spears, but with talent and the ability to convey emotions. For the second track - "Scars" - one cannot speak of doom, being a song for piano - exquisitely played by the vocalist herself - strings and female voice. One gets the sensation of listening to a sometimes garish song, but it is impossible not to cry out miracle when hearing the suffering piano notes make the first tears begin to flow.

From the third track, the tones begin to drop sharply. What raises the score in this case is the violin, which in its interlude conveys pure melancholy. Here too, good use of the male voice, even in the spoken parts. If anyone hoped to obtain concrete and direct sensations - as one would expect from an album of this kind, like those that the first three tracks know how to commendably convey - even from the fourth track, unfortunately, they will be disappointed, bitterly. From this point on, the female voice is nothing short of useless. Now she really resembles Britney, and one must beg her to be silent. "Taste" will make even the less sophisticated and demanding listeners grimace. How is it possible to insert such an indecent song in an album that someone had the courage to define doom? This choice remains inexplicable, hoping it is only a case, I move on to the next "Heaven's torment". Here the guitars return to the shores of atmospheric doom, but they do not push; they are not able to reach the levels of the title track, and, although one might overlook this factor, Dieudonnee's voice is not pleasing at all, it is not suitable for the song and makes it insufficient. The levels rise a bit with "Wallow" (almost entirely instrumental) and with the concluding "Confusion" where the singer spares us the laments of "Heaven's torment" and finally becomes more expressive. Good guitars and strings.

This album would have worked great if it hadn't been conceived as an album, but as an EP containing only the four best songs. Perhaps in this way, the group would have risked creating false expectations, because the qualities are there, but the ability to exploit them seems lacking. Weak points of the album, besides Dieudonnee's voice in some instances - I remind you, to be fair, excellent in others - the almost completely anonymous drums and at times even annoying, the guitars that never push as they should, and Anthony's voice, which turns out to be monotonous and repetitive. The lyrics, too, are not great (banal, not heartfelt, and very "Americanized"). At times, it doesn't even seem metal (maybe it's the fault of the atypical region for this genre?). Everything pales brutally when compared to the works of the undisputed kings of the genre (honestly, comparing them to Theatre Of Tragedy seems sacrilegious to me), but also to "new" bands, like the Swedish Draconian, capable of pulling off in 2005 an album ("Arcane rain fell") that even reaches the work done by My Dying Bride in their best period (first half of the '90s).

It's a pity because with certain songs and a greater amount of effort in the others, this album could have turned out to be a masterpiece. Instead, the cover artwork by Travis Smith is excellent.