Gorement
The Ending Quest

If someone were to ask me by chance which album I find most fascinating among the many produced by Swedish death metal bands in the nineties, I would definitely answer “The Ending Quest.” The only recording effort by Gorement indeed possesses that something extra that elevates it above many other records, some of which are historically much more important and influential, such as the usual “Left Hand Path”, by virtue of the fact that it emanates a mystical aura that makes it truly unique.

Born in the late eighties and riding the wave of excitement and eagerness to play what was then considered the most extreme music ever conceived, and initially devoted to the cult of the buzzing guitars with which the various pioneers Entombed, Dismember, and Carnage had christened the lands of Sweden, they were literally struck by that “Gothic” by Paradise Lost, which reached the hearts of many tough and nasty metalheads (such as Amorphis, may they always be blessed!), thanks to sinuous melodies capable of evoking strong feelings of sadness and melancholy.

And so it was that in 1994, they arrived at the creation of “The Ending Quest,” where the raw guitar slashes are infected by deep and reflective melodies, sometimes alternating between them, other times intimately mixing, thus reaching one of the peaks of Scandinavian death metal and beyond. A very evocative record, perfect to listen to in this season, starting from the last days of September when the shadows begin to stretch inexorably across the mountainsides and the sun slowly lowers on the horizon, and then again when the leaves wither and fall to the ground and the larches color the cold woods facing north with yellow patches, until finally winter arrives and the world falls asleep under a blanket of cold and pure snow. A deep album, where decadence and melancholy reign, an album made for those who live in the shadow of the mountains and appreciate every single ray of sun that can drive away the cold. Just listen to the instrumental “Silent Hymn (For the Dead),” the true peak of the record, with your eyes closed to realize it.

In short, it is simply a perfect musical expression.