Shroud Of Despondency
For Eternity Brings No Hope

What would you expect from an album that presents itself with a Depressive Black title, played by a band with a Depressive Black name, and that sounds like Depressive Black?

I bet you would expect Depressive Black, and indeed that's what you'll find in this album, except that there's at most only half of it.

After sufficiently confusing your ideas with these initial assertions and denials, I hope you'll be more motivated to continue, because this album, whether you like it or not, is quite an experiment.

As often happens in this subgenre, artists prefer to do everything themselves rather than rely on someone else, perhaps for greater expressive freedom, perhaps due to the extreme intimacy addressed, or perhaps just to give a more misanthropic image of themselves (but I prefer not to delve into this topic). Shroud Of Despondency is no exception, not a band, but a solo project from the United States, of which this is the first LP dated 2002. Before you start envisioning the sound proposed by this artist, let me clarify that it has nothing to do with Xasthur or Leviathan and, even if a bit more, not even with Judas Iscariot. I'll say more, Shroud Of Despondency has little to do with Depressive in general, and believe me, this statement is not just a ploy to capture your attention.

First of all, it is much less violent and aggressive than almost all the other bands of the same genre, secondly, despite coming from overseas, it draws its greatest inspiration from European masters like Forgotten Woods and to a lesser extent Nargaroth, and finally, it goes back to the older material of the mentioned bands, drawing a deep furrow between its sound and that which is more fashionable now. However, its offering remains damn unique, and the short duration of the songs (never more than five minutes) compared to those of its "inspirators" is a testament to it, as well as the significant space dedicated to acoustic instrumental tracks (almost half) and especially the scarcity of elements that can be defined as Black. If you exclude the voice (a fairly high scream sometimes affected or simply recorded with a poor-quality microphone), some riffs, and the presence of the Blast Beat (not to mention a poor production in pure Norwegian Black Metal style), "For Eternity Brings No Hope" could seem like a beautiful acoustic album particularly sad and melancholic.

But hold on tight, because here comes the "good part": in this CD, there are strong, if not very strong, Grunge influences. Now have the patience to follow me to the end, because I wouldn't have made such a statement if I weren't more than sure and wouldn't have given such a rating if it ruined the whole (and do me a favor and immediately erase the name Nirvana from your mind because they have nothing to do with it). I repeat I'm not crazy, and the album is more than good, but let's say it needs to be understood.

Those who know Neil Young, Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden well (all more or less connected to Grunge) will not struggle to recognize significant and numerous references to the aforementioned in the tracks of "For Eternity Brings No Hope". I regard all artists as highly esteemed, so I don't consider these influences a flaw, but I understand that the average Black Metaller (always assuming they notice it) might find them absolutely inappropriate. Personally, I find them excellently blended with the rest, indeed, of great originality and emotional effectiveness. Certainly, the "Corganian" digressions in the instrumentals sometimes seem prolix, but as a good fan of the Smashing Pumpkins and Black metal, I can't help but be attracted to this bold mix. In other cases, like the beginning of "Upon The Planet Of Waste", I think it is at least in bad faith to declare this blend inappropriate. There are also tracks more strictly tied to Black themes like "Sleep Well (Do Not Awake)" or "To Burn The Heavens", where the influences of Burzum and (to a greater extent) Forgotten Woods are felt, and they will certainly please the purists.

And here we are back at the beginning of the review when I said there is little Depressive Black: if you already consider that half of the songs are acoustic and in the other half there are heavy Grunge influences, you'll understand that I wasn't hallucinating; but the paradox is that despite this, the work overall seems Depressive! Only by dissecting it piece by piece can you realize how minimal the Black component truly is. I'd prefer to skip, as in almost all reviews of CDs of this genre, the strictly technical aspect, although I cannot help but mention the guitarist's skills that emerge in the acoustic tracks (even if I admit that it's easy to be misled by the evocative pieces regarding the actual technical skills). In any case, it is not technique that makes a great Black album but the ability to engage, and believe me, whether you consider them sappy or not, the brushstrokes of "For Eternity Brings No Hope" succeed enormously.

A peculiar and particularly "romantic" Depressive Black, that of Shroud Of Despondency, which I recommend to all those with open minds and who are looking for something similar to the old Forgotten Woods; the CD, if only for the courage shown, deserves a high rating.