Phlebotomized
Immense Intense Suspense

After a 7" and an MCD, this is the first album in the career of the Dutch Phlebotomized. The line-up remains unchanged, consisting of a 7-member formation with vocals, 2 guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, and violin.

The keyboards and the violin are the distinctive features of the music contained in this album, making it very personal and strange. Already in the previous MCD, Phlebotomized showed that they had good ideas to break away from the death/doom scene of the time, but they were just ideas not yet fully developed. Here, however, they managed to develop them, and in the best way, I might add!!! The style of this album is a kind of death metal blended with many characteristics of so-called "prog metal". From death metal, we have the classic growl voice (truly cavernous!) and many truly vicious frontal assaults. From "prog metal", we have the intricate structures of the songs (full of changes and breakdowns), and the use of keyboards, which almost always play a leading role. To this is added a strong melancholic atmosphere, created mainly by the violin. That's why I would define it as "melancholic death/prog metal."

The album includes 9 tracks, of which the first is an instrumental intro. Then we have 3 beautifully intricate songs in the style described above, followed by an almost 3-minute instrumental interlude that is very sad and evocative. Then there are another 3 songs in the style described above, and finally, a sort of semi-ballad that is incredibly sad and tear-inducing. The best songs for me are the last two. "Mellow Are The Reverberation" is practically the highest expression of the album's style: 9 minutes full of violent parts, dark and sad parts, violin breaks, keyboard layers, tempo changes, and much more... a very varied song with a unique style. The concluding "Gone..." starts as a kind of ballad played with an acoustic guitar that seems almost abused, like it's being played with a hoe... a very strange effect, but perfectly rendered, it seems like the guitar speaks and communicates its inner pain... the lyrics are no less, dark and very sad (sung with a clean voice), dedicated to some of their loved ones who died that year; then the band shouts in unison "It's not fair" and the song gets angry, while maintaining a melancholic atmosphere.

The album's production is very good, despite all these instruments and complex parts, the record sounds perfect, and you can catch every single nuance. The packaging is not top-notch, honestly, I find the cover awful, but the booklet is quite thick and includes all the lyrics. Technically, it's an excellently played album, there are no great stylistic refinements, but everyone interprets their part in the best way, and that is the important thing. In short, I like this album a lot, it's highly personal (I don't know any album that resembles it) and very well executed. It's definitely not a cheerful album; on the contrary, I recommend listening to it in the dark and when you're feeling down, the effect is guaranteed.

If you're looking for something personal and melancholic, this album is for you. It's hard to find it now, but it's worth searching for.