While Heaven Wept
Sorrow Of The Angels

I have always enjoyed discovering artists or groups that are little-known in equally unexplored genres. Maybe because most have listened to the greats of every genre for better or for worse, while other equally valid realities, relegated to the margins of the music market, have never had the strength or means to emerge. While Heaven Wept, an American doom metal band, are part of this latter category and, although they have repeatedly demonstrated their extraordinary musical flair, they have never managed to gain much recognition. For this reason, I decided to use this site to let someone unfamiliar with their music savor it.

I apologize for the preface, but I deemed it absolutely important. Moving on to discuss the album in question, the cover immediately stands out as quite emblematic of the music contained in the disc. A classic sound that takes cues from the codifiers of the genre (Candlemass) primarily, albeit with some small variations, starting with the incredible emotional charge of the four tracks. These are emblematic episodes of While Heaven Wept's offering, which skillfully blend the melodic and dramatic elements with the more purely heavy aspects. Furthermore, one understands the great power and excellent work done by the band when considering that Sorrow of the Angels is the first studio album of the three Americans, here still in a "revised" formation before becoming today's six members.

The despairing initial dirge "Thus With A Kiss I Die" conveys the band's musical creed: a suffocating yet at the same time "airy" rhythm transports us into the dark world reflected on the cover. A fundamental role in the delineation of all this is played by the voice of the singer Tom Phillips (who also handled guitar and keyboards), who, thanks to his heartbreaking clean vocals, does nothing but amplify the emotional charge released from the start by the various instruments. A voice that immediately reminded me of Pat Walker from Warning, another fundamental group in the underground of this genre (and whose beautiful "Watching from a Distance" I recommend). A stunning piece that, after the first part, erupts into an instrumental crescendo featuring slowdowns, atmospheric solutions, and suddenly again flows of classic doom.

Also noteworthy is the following "Into The Wells Of Sorrow": a soft beginning with a gentle guitar transports us to more purely heavy/doom shores, where one remains ensnared in the tug-of-war between guitar and voice. The last few seconds of apparent calm are not enough to pacify the listener's soul, still shaken by such pressing sentimentality, which again with "The Death Of Love", reaches great heights. After these further nine minutes of "musical suffering," you can finally breathe freely only with the concluding "September", an atmospheric track of short duration. In it, the pure notes of an acoustic guitar chase and follow each other, abandoning us after about forty minutes of fine music.

I hope I have encouraged someone to delve deeper into their understanding, well aware that I have dealt with a "difficult" album and band from a musical proposal point of view. However, I can confidently say that despite an evidently challenging length, the four tracks contained in the CD are of absolute compositional level and represent an excellent summary of classic doom metal.

Remarkable.

1. "Thus With A Kiss I Die" (16:58)
2. "Into The Wells Of Sorrow" (9:44)
3. "The Death Of Love" (9:57)
4. "September" (2:21)