altarsofgrief-iris-reviews

Review from Lords of Metal

Sat, 16 Mar 2019 22:00:40 +0100

From: Lords of Metal

Published: March 1, 2019

Waarom we bij Lords nu pas, bijna een jaar na release, Iris van het Canadese Altars Of Grief ter bespreking krijgen mag Joost weten. Maar ja, beter laat dan nooit zullen we maar zeggen. Of het moet een erbarmelijke plaat zijn natuurlijk, dan geldt uiteraard beter nooit dan laat. Gelukkig is Iris meer dan okay. Het is een heerlijke death doom plaat met heel wat black metalinvloeden (luister maar eens naar Desolation), wat funeral doom en tevens ook wat post rock/metalachtige stukken. Er is dus variatie alom aanwezig in de nummers, en nergens komt deze afwisseling geforceerd of als los zand over. Het vloeit allemaal lekker organisch weg. Kwaadaardig waar nodig, contemplatief als het kan. Alles zit op de juiste plaats. Tot voor kort was ik totaal niet bekend met dit gezelschap. Iris daarentegen zorgt ervoor dat ik nu het oudere werk ook eens ga checken. Al met al een prima plaat.

Rating: 78/100

Reviewed by: Marcel H

Review from Metal Gods TV

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:06:41 +0100

From: Metal Gods TV

Published: February 9, 2019

Original Link

Canadian blackened funeral doom troop Altars Of Grief are definitely aptly named and on Iris, the bands second full length album, they mercilessly unleash a mixture of heaviness, sadness and all encompassing bleakness to devastating and stunning effect. This is music soaked in sadness but reveling in the triumph of that sadness.

The epic and sublime (and again, aptly named) Isolation gets things off to the most funereal starts and you know completely from the off that this is going to be something special as soon as the cello led opening commences. This is the sound of a band who start as they mean to go in and the results are completely devastating. Haunting vocals, both sung and growled intermittently, and a militaristic drumming style collide with pounding riffs between those beautiful cello passages to create a monumental opening salvo that once you hear it you won’t be able to forget it.

Next track Desolation follows and initially follows as a similar path to its predecessor but soon morphs into a heavier monster altogether, showing off more of that blackened metal sound and one that is heavy in a different fashion to what has preceded it as does the devastating title track, which features some powerful vocals as its centerpiece.

The initially more mellow Child Of Light harks back to Isolation with its use of that beautiful cello again before descending into the chaos of darkness with some hypnotic rhythms and commanding vocals,as does Broken Hymn which treads a similar path with no less crushing results, and is a song with a chillingly effective cello led outdo that casts out a menacing feeling that many bands can only dream of.

Voices Of Winter, again, combines the epic soundscapes and blackened coldness that gives Altars Of Grief their massive sound before the sombre and heartbreaking Becoming Intangible and, finally the closing track Epilogue round things off in the most heartbreaking of ways with its organ led march in a manner that is befitting of this entire album.

With Iris, Altars Of Grief have defiantly raised the stakes when it comes to making music that is affecting and heartbreaking without losing sight of their blackened nature and in doing so, have created an album that is the undisputed epitome of heaviness in many different forms in an all encompassing way.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Gavin Brown

Review from The Pit of the Damned

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 23:43:01 +0100

From: The Pit of the Damned

Published: February 3, 2019

Original Link

La Hypnotic Dirge Records sta facendo un buon lavoro, fondamentalmente votato a scovare band interessanti in territori black doom senza sbracarsi troppo in innumerevoli uscite annuali. Lo scorso anno tra le release più interessanti dell'etichetta canadese, c'è sicuramente da annoverare quella degli Altars of Grief, quintetto originario di Regina, nel Saskatchewan. Il genere in cui è possibile collocare i canadesi è quello di un death doom emozionale che arriva a sconfinare talvolta nel black. Otto tracce per confermare quanto di buono i nostri avevano lasciato intravedere nel precedente 'This Shameful Burden', ormai datato 2014, anzi fare decisamente meglio. La mid-tempo "Isolation" apre il disco con una certa eleganza, proponendo appunto un death doom atmosferico, corredato da cleaning e growling vocals, che talvolta sfociano in grida dal forte sapore black, pur la traccia muovendosi in territori ritmati e assai melodici. Non si può dire altrettanto della funambolica "Desolation", violentissima nella sua estremissima ritmica black symph con una batteria sparata al fulmicotone, come se non ci fosse un domani. Solo delle evocative vocals provano a placare l'incedere tempestoso di una song dal sicuro impatto sonoro, che nella porzione solistica sembra lasciar intravedere delle reminiscenze progressive. La title track riparte là dove "Isolation" aveva concluso, con un sound decisamente più controllato e decadente, complici le liriche che, come spiegato dal vocalist, narrano di un padre che si ritrova incapace di connettersi e prendersi cura della sua giovane figlia, Iris, che si è gravemente ammalata. Spingendosi sempre più a fondo nei suoi vizi, e sentendosi respinto dalla nuova fede incrollabile di Iris, entra nella sua auto e decide di lasciarla indietro. Da qualche parte lungo la strada ghiacciata, perde il controllo del suo veicolo e perisce. Il suo purgatorio è guardare impotente mentre Iris soccombe lentamente alla sua malattia senza di lui. Tornando alla traccia, non manca neppure qui la forsennata ritmica che schiude a momenti più calibrati, di temperamento doom e linee melodiche dal forte tocco malinconico, spezzate però sempre da quelle intemperanze ritmiche che sembrano deviare notevolmente il corso del brano verso lidi più estremi o ancora far sprofondare il tutto in territori angoscianti in un'altalenanza ritmica davvero pericolosa. "Child of Light" è una song più classica che poco mi ha lasciato al termine del suo ascolto, se non una certa analogia con i grandi del passato. Decisamente più interessante "Broken Hymn" per il violoncello di Raphael Weinroth-Browne, che qui sembra assurgere un ruolo drammaticamente più importante nell'esibire quell'aura decadente all'intero album, in una traccia lenta e ritmata che trova comunque sfogo nelle ormai classiche e divampanti scariche black, contrastate solo dalle splendide vocals pulite del bravissimo Damian Smith, eccellente nella sua prova. "Voices of Winter" mi ricorda un che dei primi Novembre; gli archi di Raphael sono sempre preponderanti ma il corso del pezzo vedrà la proposta della band rallentare verso trame sempre più oscure e tenebrose che ci introducono alla drammatica "Becoming Intangible", dove un duetto formato da chitarra acustica e voce pulita (coadiuvate dal violoncello, qui più in sordina), colpiscono per l'enorme pathos messo in scena nella sua prima parte, prima di esplodere in un'ultima sfuriata black, prima della conclusione affidata al tiepido e nostalgico addio dell'epilogo finale. Davvero intriganti, da ascoltare ad ogni costo.

Rating: 80/100

Reviewed by: Francesco Scarci

Review from Metalfan.nl

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:39:44 +0100

From: metalfan.nl

Published: January 16, 2019

Original Link

De weersomstandigheden in de tweede helft van december en eerste week van januari zijn niet om vrolijk van te worden. Aan de andere kant past het weer prima bij doom metal. Het druilerige van buiten stemt somber en vraagt om navenante klanken. Eén van de releases die daarop aansluit, is Iris van Altars Of Grief.

De Canadese doomband beperkt zich daarop echter niet tot trage passages. Soms versnelt men met blasts en blackmetalriffs, zoals in het grimmige Desolation, dat ook een sludgy post-metalpassage bevat. De eerste twee tracks verschillen enorm in tempo, maar het vijftal muzikanten (dat inmiddels tot een zestal is uitgegroeid) houdt wel knap de rode draad van het verhaal en het karakter vast. Het sterkst komt het kwintet voor de dag in het ijzersterke titelnummer, waarin de twee uitersten het beste op elkaar aansluiten en de gitaarpartijen memorabel zijn.

Naast instrumentale variatie is er ook diversiteit op vocaal gebied. Behalve Damian Smith hebben de andere vier leden ook bijgedragen met hun stemmen. In Desolation hoor je screams, maar ook extreme postmetalvocalen en grunts. In de openingstrack zingt Damian vooral clean. Op dit soort momenten komen de invloeden van traditionele doombands goed naar voren. Op andere momenten komt de naam van Woods Of Ypres regelmatig in gedachten op.

De heren zingen over de vader van de gelovige Iris. Ze verliest hem aan een terminale ziekte. Raphael Weinroth-Browne (bekend van zijn samenwerking met onder meer Leprous) benadrukt de tragiek met zijn cellopartijen, die in meerdere tracks terugkomen, waaronder het door hemzelf geschreven, kalme, instrumentale Epilogue, dat mooi aansluit op het uit drie delen bestaande, eclectische Becoming Intangible.

Elk nummer heeft zijn eigen karakter. Zo is Child Of Light vooral dromerig, Broken Hymns rauw en zeker het eerste gedeelte zeer traag en meeslepend. Voices Of Winter is zwaar en harmonieus.

Ondanks de wat mindere tweede helft van het album verveelt Iris geen moment. Altars Of Grief bewijst hiermee zijn zaken prima op orde te hebben met een interessant en veelzijdig album. Beslist een aanrader voor metalfans die de combinatie van black metal, post-rock, post-metal en druilerige doom kunnen waarderen.

Rating: 81/100

Reviewed by: Jeffrey

Review from Scum Feast Zine

Sat, 22 Dec 2018 18:51:45 +0100

From: Scum Feast Zine

Published: December 21, 2018

Original Link

So with a name like ALTARS OF GRIEF I was pretty sure what I was getting myself into with this release. Now if that wasn't a total giveaway then there's the song titles for example liker "Isolation", "Desolation", "Voices of Winter", etc. This band is also from Saskatchewan, Canada aka: the Yuke. Years ago I spent two years in Alaska so I know about the extreme cold and cabin fever. The only thing missing here is a bottle of bourbon and a loaded shotgun.

This happens to be the second full length from these depressive doomsters. ALTARS OF GRIEF are a fairly new act but wasted no time in sharing their depression and sadness with the rest of their great nation. They started out in 2013 and self released their debut full length This Shameful Burden a year later. After that they did a split release with a symphonic black metal act. Rumor has it that after listening to ALTARS OF GRIEF's two tracks the other band killed themselves. OK I'm just kidding.

To be honest I'm just a happy person also heartless. I don't get grief and sadness as others do. My friends still talk about the time I cut into a funeral procession on my way to the store on a beer run. Sure I beeped the horn at the slow fuckers. Then when I finally passed them and got side by side with the chauffeur driving the hearse. I gave the guy the finger and sped passed em. It's not like he was going to chase me down. Now despite my cold heartless personality I occasionally enjoy some depressive doom. Holy shit I write about various genres of metal.

Which brings me to the specific point. The sub genre of depressive doom is a fairly easy sound to convey on listeners. I won't name drop but seriously there are a few decent artists who do a great job at it. Mainly because they make it interesting. And that's what ALTARS OF GRIEF do a hundred fold. This release is a non stop agony of desperation which you hold onto with a death grip till it ends.

They pulse the melodic clean vocals with an equal amount of harsh painfully affirmation of aggro screams. The song signatures are a mixed bag of aggressive riff based doom, melodic moments of atmospheric contemplation and finally blackened filth ridden harshness. In the eternal end ALTARS OF GRIEF leave you wanting more.

Review from Aristocrazia Webzine

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:09:20 +0100

From: Aristocrazia Webzine

Published: August 6, 2018

Original Link

Il nostro primo incontro con gli Altars Of Grief avvenne qualche anno fa, in occasione dello split con i Nachtterror; fu solo un breve assaggio del loro potenziale, tuttavia risultò già convincente. L'uscita di "Iris" ci consente, finalmente, di conoscere meglio la band canadese.

Inutile girarci intorno, questo album è una bomba. Me ne ero reso conto fin da subito e il fatto che dopo due settimane di ascolti non abbia perso in alcun modo la propria potenza espressiva ne è la prova definitiva. Il facile paragone con i Woods Of Ypres non deve sembrare indice di poca personalità; al contrario, il Prairie Doom del gruppo riesce a brillare di luce propria, pur non rigettando le basi fornite da David Gold e soci.

L'atmosfera di "Iris" è generalmente cupa, quasi gotica — nel senso meno pacchiano del termine — a giudicare dal tappeto di tastiere in sottofondo, dagli incantevoli passaggi acustici e dal violoncello che arricchisce diversi brani; anche il lavoro grafico dai colori pressoché assenti sembra confermare questa tendenza. Alcune fasi più ariose tuttavia — talvolta strizzando timidamente l'occhio al mondo Post- — sembrano lasciare intravedere un barlume in lontananza, seppur così distante da essere quasi irraggiungibile.

Angoscia e disperazione prendono svariate forme, a volte in preda a una furia accecante, altre afflitte dall'assenza totale della più flebile speranza; ciò si manifesta attraverso una vasta gamma di tempi che vanno dai blast beat di stampo Black a rallentamenti pachidermici al limite del Funeral Doom, comprendendo anche dinamiche vicine al Doom-Death. La notevole varietà ritmica si riflette allo stesso modo sulle chitarre, autrici di riff pregni di ogni possibile sfumatura di sofferenza

L'elemento più palesemente accostabile ai Woods Of Ypres è la voce, in particolare quella pulita che spesso si presenta nei momenti meno spinti con armonie malinconiche. L'unione e l'alternanza di questo stile con uno scream-growl tormentato è uno dei fattori più rappresentativi dell'album, essendo il mezzo più efficace nell'esprimere la negatività dei testi in tutte le sue varianti.

È difficile trovare punti deboli in un'opera simile; è possibile, però, trovare un apice qualitativo che — a titolo puramente personale — identifico nella titletrack: un brano da lacrime, capace di racchiudere in sei minuti l'essenza del disco e di trasmetterla a pieno regime. La realtà dei fatti, a tutti gli effetti, è che non ci sono momenti realmente fiacchi e l'ora scarsa di musica scorre piacevolmente e senza fatica, tanto da indurre al ri-ascolto immediato. Ottimo lavoro per gli Altars Of Grief.

Reviewed by: Gabriele Strano

Review from Obscuro.cz

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:07:14 +0100

From: Obscuro.cz

Published: August 4, 2018

Original Link

Hodina mezi psem a vlkem, hudba mezi black a doom metalem. Ponurá hudba, mlžně zakalená oparem truchlivého svítání. Kanadští Altars of Grief vydali své nové album už březnu letošního roku, ale v záplavě novinek mi drobná, nepravidelná perla unikla.

Album „Iris“ se možná blíží víc melodickému death doomu, ale má nádherné, temné chvíle, kdy zní velice efektním blackem. Atmosféra protahované deprese je zesilovaná střídáním nejrůznějších poloh hudby, ze které vyvěrají potoky pomalu se valící do hlubin. Existenciální album od března, kdy spatřilo světlo světa zvolna proráží v myslích posluchačů, je to album, které musí zrát dlouho a nacházet si spojence velmi nenápadně. Ovšem doomové publikum už je takové. Musí každé album dostatečně strávit, zažít a navyknout si na jeho specifika. Doom je komplikovaný na poslech a vyžaduje hodně soustředění.

Ta hořící obloha, která se objevuje v textech Altars of Grief, prohořívá zvolna, ale občas do ní zavane vítr. To ve chvíli, kdy se rozezní clean vocal a hudba nabere větší sílu. Klasický black ani klasický doom se v albu „Iris“ najít nedá. Kapela hledá cesty napříč subžánry. Na Altars of Grief je ostatně vidět, kam se posunula doomová scéna za posledních deset let. Prairie doom metal, tak svůj žánr nazývají členové kapely. Ať už je to cokoli, jejich hudba zaujme ve všech polohách.

Nejvíc bývá kapela přirovnávaná k Woods of Ypres a možná se zvukově obě skupiny občas skutečně dotknou, srovnání tohoto typu ale může být zavádějící. Altars of Grief jsou temnější a zvuková stopa „Iris“ je velice bohatá, mnohavrstevná. Nejsou to žádní rebelové stojící proti společnosti a chránící si žárlivé své sebevražedné tendence, jejich myšlení je zaměřeno na hudbu, na její efekt, na její dosah. „Iris“ je díky tomu opravdu vysoce sofistikované album, které si dává velký pozor na přehmaty.

K doomu nebo blacku sáhnou většinou dva typy hudebníků. Ti, kteří umí příliš málo a do takového žáru dobře schovají své instrumentační neumětelství a pak ti, co jsou už natolik dobří, že tíhnou k hudebnímu zenu. U Kanaďanů nejde o první případ a zdánlivé nečistoty jsou jen žánrovým znakem, ne hráčská neschopnost. Naopak. Album je citlivě dotažené na vrchol a občas trošku pod něj, což je záměrně inervující. Nedokonalosti ve zpěvu nebo občasné nesrovnalosti mezi zvukem cella a kytar jsou cílená bodnutí do ušních bubínků. Hned, jak se ozvou, ustanou a zmizí v záplavě elegantní harmonie.

Stejně používají tuhle disonanci Altar ve zpěvu. U některých skladeb jsem z toho dostávala neurotické záchvaty, které hned vystřídala vlna obdivného „ách!“. Hudební napětí a nepředvídatelnost řadí „Iris“ k skutečně výjimečným počinům.

Síla první skladby „Isolation“ zní ve vysoké melodičnosti, „Desolation“ je naopak neklidně blacková, Ústřední skladba „Iris“ se houpe na vlně ponurého doomu a tak bych mohla pokračovat. Album nelze přestavovat, protože jakmile by si člověk pustil skladby na přeskáčku, přišel by o celkové vyznění. Líbí se mi, když se z alba nedá udělat výběr nějakých „best of…“. Nedělitelné celky hudebních konceptů mají svůj smysl a řád a v době, kdy lidé nemají čas a chuť poslouchat celá alba, jen výseky a odlesky hudebních nápadů je „Iris“ nádherně staromódní kousek.

Kanadští mistři plodné deprese stojí pod hořící oblohou velmi pevně. Jsou jedni z těch, kdo otevírají nesmírně zajímavý a nosný subžánr těm, kteří nemají trpělivost na zvládnutí funerálních alb. Black – doom ve velmi dynamickém podání otevírá brány i posluchačům, kterým depresivní procházka hřbitovem připadá příliš tichá a příliš nudná.

Review from No Clean Singing

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:06:22 +0100

From: No Clean Singing

Published: July 26, 2018

Original Link

We’ve filled this post to the brim with a whole variety of different death metal and grind metal acts, so why not shift gears just a bit and go for the full-blown and melodramatic doom of Regina, Saskatchewan’s very own Altars Of Grief?

Iris was hotly anticipated around these here parts and to put it bluntly, holy shit is it unfair just how good Iris is. Although there was some line-up shifting (and still kind of is, as the band solidify a full live line-up), you absolutely could not tell by the abject misery put forth on Altars Of Grief’s sophomore album. Iris is eight songs and nearly an hour’s worth of slow-moving, keyboard-heavy doom material that wallows in its sorrow and could cast a pall on just about any room — especially when considering the concept of the album.

The band’s formula hasn’t changed too much since we last heard from them. Instead, they iterate on what already works for them, and thus Iris feels like the most mature effort the band have put forth yet. With melodramatic and full-throated clean singing still in tow, Iris weaponizes its moments of misery so much that sometimes the standout songs feel like they shine so brightly simply because they aren’t the heavy trudge through the snow that Altars Of Grief are so goddamned good at. One of those we were actually able to premiere here at this site, and to be honest, it’s the one I was most excited about at the time.

“Desolation” is such a goddamned heavy song with a deep death metal undertone driving the song forward for the whole of its six minutes. As one of the shorter songs, it almost never lets up and just constantly wears the listener down with heavy moments and hammering riffs. Following the much slower and more familiar-feeling intro in the nine minutes of icy wandering that is “Isolation” is a tough act, but “Desolation” pretty much spells out that Iris is going to be a hell of a lot heavier this go-around, and that is something that weaves its way through the entire album — which is why the segment of “I’ll never forgive you for this!” that happens during the album’s titular song hits so goddamned hard. It’s difficult not to feel at least a little something when the final lyrics of “Iris” close out on “I’ll never let you take from me again!”.

Altars Of Grief‘s clean singing and ear for melody is almost second to none and fully on display here, each song manifesting a fierce adherence to finding the perfect segment of notes to evoke the cold and desolate fields that the band portray whenever they refer to themselves as ‘prairie doom metal’. Once you hit “Child Of Light”, Iris settles into familiar ground — new-found heaviness along for the journey. The song lengths become longer, the songwriting colder, and Altars Of Grief really stretch their doom muscles in the keyboard-laden back half, though the first double-bass drum hammering that appears in “Child Of Light” is for a fleeting moment absolutely glorious.

The real crusher of Iris arrives in its closing few songs, especially the sparse and miserable closing epic of “Becoming Intangible”. With its first half mostly clean-sung and the vocals isolated from the rest of the band, “Becoming Intangible” slowly builds and builds until its final breaking point when a full-blown blastbeat segment full of passionate howls explodes into play to help end the epic. The least reliant on lyrics — although the ‘waiting for the end again’ line’s constant refrain is likely to claw into people’s brains — “Becoming Intangible” walks a million miles on just songwriting alone, and is so atmospheric that when things finally close out in the calmness of Iris‘ “Epilogue” you feel slightly shaken up.

Iris is an absolutely fantastic release and one highly recommended.

Review from The Headbanging Moose

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:05:34 +0100

From: The Headbanging Moose

Published: June 29, 2018

Original Link

Highly influenced by the desolate landscapes and the solitude of long, prairie winters, here comes one of the biggest names in Canadian Blackened Doom with a superb new album narrating a tragic story of a deeply flawed man and his dying daughter.

Formed in November 2013 in Regina, the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Blackened Doom act Altars of Grief has worked over the years to develop a weighty concoction of Death Metal, Sludge Metal, Funeral Doom and Atmospheric Black Metal along with a strong focus on storytelling and the desire to convey authentic emotion, highly influenced by the desolate landscapes and the solitude of long, prairie winters that inspired the moniker of “Prairie Doom Metal”. After the release of their 2014 debut fill-length album This Shameful Burden, the band returns in full force with the bold and multi-layered Iris, narrating a tragic story of a deeply flawed man and his dying daughter, named Iris.

Featuring a stunning artwork by Travis Smith from Seempieces, brilliantly depicting Iris’ final moments as she kneels before the winter beset church and embraces her fate, and the mesmerizing cello by Raphael Weinroth-Browne (who by the way played cello for Canadian Folk/Melodic Black Metal band Thrawsunblat on their amazing 2016 opus Metachthonia), Iris is not just an album of heavy music, but an amalgamation of emotions that will transport your mind and soul to the desolation of the prairies. “The story of Iris is very much rooted in our prairie surroundings and deals with the struggles of addiction, sickness and religion. A father finds himself unable to connect with and care for his young daughter, Iris, who has fallen seriously ill. Spiraling deeper and deeper into his vices, and feeling rejected by Iris’ new found and unwavering faith, he gets into his car and decides to leave her behind. Somewhere along the icy road, he loses control of his vehicle and perishes. His purgatory is to watch helplessly as Iris slowly succumbs to her illness without him”, comments the band’s lead singer Damian Smith.

Melancholy and grief permeate the air in the opening track Isolation, a masterpiece of darkness led by the strident and somber guitars by Erik Labossiere and Evan Paulson, while Damian obscurely declaims the song’s lyrics through his anguished gnarls, proving why he’s a poet of the underworld. Hence, the music flows majestically until its grand finale, setting the tone for Desolation, where a Stygian atmosphere is suddenly joined by heavy-as-hell riffs and the crushing Black Metal beats by Zack Bellina, also presenting introspective and touching words (“I opened my eyes / To the night sky / The unending storm / Revealed itself before me / Weightless in my resolve / But, still a burden remains / With this final breath / Please, forgive me”). Moreover, it’s simply impressive how Altars of Grief can sound so distinct from one song to another, also bringing forth a perfect balance between harsh growls and deep clean vocals.

The title-track Iris brings forward more of the band’s enfolding musicality, blending the aggressiveness of Atmospheric Black Metal with the obscurity of Doom Metal, also presenting very subtle nuances of Melodic Black Metal. In addition, Erik and Evan once again fire a mix of rage and harmony through their flammable strings, enhancing the taste of this very complete and bold composition. Then we have Child of Light, where an epic and melancholic intro evolves into a full-bodied sound, and with Zack together with bassist Donny Pinay building a massive, atmospheric wall of sounds with their instruments, generating the perfect ambience for all vocal styles used by the band; followed by Broken Hymns, another captivating, neck-breaking tune where Raphael is truly outstanding with his cello, adding a marvelous touch of delicacy and melancholy to the overall musicality. In other words, this is a song tailored for closing your eyes and letting the band guide your mind and soul to their dark and mournful world.

And Altars of Grief personify the grievous, obscure voices of the bitterly cold winds of winter in the Atmospheric Black Metal extravaganza titled Voices of Winter, with Damian’s growls being delicately complemented by Raphael’s stunning cello sounds and the whimsical guitars by Erik and Evan, whereas in Becoming Intangible the sound of the cello and the acoustic guitars walk hand in hand in the smoothest way possible before morphing into contemporary extreme music, sounding very atmospheric, gripping and bold until its beyond piercing ending. Zack is once again a beast on drums, not to mention the latent poetry found in the song’s lyrics (“I can barely see the sun / I guess this path was truly flawed / Judgement comes with revelation / And, I’ve never felt so close to God”), flowing into one of the most beautiful outros in underground extreme music, titled Epilogue, performed by Raphael and his always astounding cello.

You can listen to Iris in its entirety on YouTube, follow Altars of Grief on Facebook, and purchase your copy of this masterpiece of the underworld from the band’s own BandCamp page, from the Hypnotic Dirge Records’ BandCamp or webstore in distinct bundles (Iris CD, Iris CD + Nachtterror / Altars of Grief – Of Ash and Dying Light vinyl split, Iris CD + shirt + patch, and Iris CD + Nachtterror / Altars of Grief vinyl split + shirt + patch), as well as from iTunes or from Amazon. If you were not familiar with “Prairie Doom Metal” before listening to Iris, now you have a very good reason to get to know more about such distinct sub-genre of extreme music. But if Altars of Grief are already a recurrent part of your playlist, the emotional story told in Iris will simply make you even more addicted to their desolate and imposing sounds.

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by: Gustavo Scuderi

Review from Teeth of the Divine

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:04:10 +0100

From: Teeth of the Divine

Published: June 25, 2018

Original Link

Canada’s Hypnotic Dirge Records is best known for its crippling doom metal but a few recent forays into atmospheric/depressive/black metal such as Kassad, None, Kval, Mavradoxa and such haven’t been quite as successful in my humble opinion, but a here is a glorious, rending return to from from Canada’s own aptly named “prairie doom” act Altars of Grief, and it’s utterly amazing.

I hate to use the name of deceased folks and influences , but when Damien Smith starts to croon in the last third of opener “Isolation”, I can’t help but think of David Gold (RIP) and the latter Woods of Ypres releases. The album has that lumbering despondent, wilting, doom metal aura, but also injects some more urgent, virile black-ish metal expulsions here and there that work really well. The addition of some synths and gorgeous cellos, (fittingly played by Raphael Weinroth-Browne- who also played on Woods of Ypres‘ Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light), adds to the mood (“Broken Hymns” is just…….) making for a perfect album of the genre.

The guitars have some nice crunch, the harsh vocals are a nice mix of growls and blacker rasps, but it all comes together wrapped in a somber but extravagant and lavish release dripping with despondent clarity. The atmospheric black metal moments are also impressive, not just piece meal- as heard on second track “Desolation” (which has a stunning transition to cleaner despondency around 3 minutes in) or a few minutes into in the brilliant title track.

But for traditional styled, crunchy, crushing but emotive doom that has nods to the classic British triumvirate or the Finnish doom/death scene the band truly shines on “Child of Light”, My Dying Bride-ish cello tinged trudge of “Voices of Winter” (that bridge at 5;14 is simply perfect), or utterly wilting “Broken Hymns” which morphs into a truly spectacular, melodic black metal, clean sing moment that has to be heard to be believed, and might move you to tears (it’s something in my eye , I swear).

Before “Epilogue” ends the album with 2 minutes of gorgeous violins and cellos, “Becoming Intangible” delivers 4 minutes of slow burning acoustics, cellos and spoken word/clean singing before a goddamn amazing melodic/ atmospheric black metal climax that rivals anything in the current atmospheric black metal genre has to offer, including ……dare I say, Deafheaven, Vallendusk and Panopticon. The track closes with a perfect doom, lope, letting the listener come down from the prior few minutes of pure, musical perfection.

Iris is easily the best release Hypnotic Dirge has put out since Atten Ash‘s The Hourglass back in 2015, and it could be the best thing the label has ever released. Its also one of the best doom releases of the last few years I have heard and is a sure fire top ten release for 2018 as far as I’m concerned. Magnificent stuff.

Reviewed by: Erik Thomas