womb-deceptionthroughyourlies-reviews

Review from Necromance Webzine

Tue, 10 May 2016 20:51:21 +0100

From: Necromance Webzine

Published: May 10, 2016

Desde Sevilla nos llega el álbum debut de WOMB, “Deception Through Your Lies”, a través de Solitude Productions (Rusia) e Hypnotic Dirge Records (Canadá). Su propuesta es melancólica, lúgubre y llena de melodías, profesando un doom/death metal muy oscuro y denso, en línea de los primeros ANATHEMA, con la densidad de MY DYINING BRIDE, pero a su vez mantienen melodías como SHAPE OF DESPAIR o AHAB. Son cinco cortes, los que alcanzan sus 35 minutos en un debut esperanzador dentro de la escena.

Un triste piano inicia la marcha hacia “Echoes Of Our Scars”, que camina lenta y pausadamente con unas guitarras afiladas de la mano de Aszeroth y una percusión ralentizada (Alastor) hacia los guturales densos y oscuros de Emilio, donde el bajo de Phalcor aun profundiza más en el abismo. Un detalle que me gusta de este grupo son los intercambios en los riffs de guitarras desde las melodías más oscuras, hasta otras mucho más abiertas con toques de post/doom/metal que aportan calidad a la estructura musical, aportando unos pasajes ambientales y atmosféricos que engrandecen los temas. En este en concreto, la parte final me encanta.

“Ends”, es otro tema típicamente doom, pero con un toque más álgido en sus riffs de guitarras, que aumentan la atmosfera y le dan un aire post. La parte central tiene un pasaje silencioso, con un viento acompañado de una solitaria guitarra, a la que se le unen los demás componentes, dándole un toque de epicidad al corte. Elementos que desarrollan a lo largo de “March”, esta vez con voz limpia, como un narrador en la lejanía, surgiendo desde lo más profundo unos guturales profundos que ponen el contrapunto, mientras las guitarras desarrollan la base melódica del tema con un carácter muy preciosista y una parte central y final brutal, que consiguió ponerme los pelos de punta. Uno de mis temas preferidos del álbum.

“Equidistant”, destaca por la musicalidad a base de notas de bajo y una percusión perfectamente encasillada con él. Un tema que va creciendo desde el minuto uno al séptimo. Un devenir que cabalga por terrenos lóbregos y pantanosos, creando una gran ambientación con su pasaje central, especie de interludio que se interpone entre la calma y la melancolía, resurgiendo desde lo profundo del abismo, para ir creciendo junto a la melodía llevada por las guitarras hacia el final del álbum. Este final lo pone “Forgotten By Her Bliss”, otro de mis temas preferidos, quizás el más agresivo, pero sin perder ni un ápice de su morbosidad lúgubre. WOMB, recrean perfectamente ese pútrido ambiente que se respira en el doom metal, con toques de melodías muy etéreas que llenan las composiciones musicales.

Un álbum debut, “Deception Through Your Lies”, que me deja muy buen sabor de boca. WOMB combina perfectamente los elementos más oscuros con melodías muy ricas, para crear canciones muy disfrutables como “Forgotten By Her Bliss” o “March”. Un muy buen debut.

Reviewed by: Juan Angel Martos

Review from Metal Temple

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:23:32 +0100

From: Metal Temple

Published: April 8, 2015

Original Link

To create a somber and darkened form of music, which can bind together the harshness and aggressive sound of Death Metal or Black Metal with the sinister atmosphere and slow tempos of Doom Metal, is not a new thing into Metal. Many bands are doing this since the second half of the 90s. And as an heir of their efforts, from Spain, we have WOMB coming with their first album, "Deception Through Your Lies".

The sound is heavy and abrasive, with slow paced tempos and long songs (something between six and nine minutes of duration), giving their music an entire darkened and intense impact. But they have, as well, a deep sense of melody, and even being so brutal and oppressive, "Deception Through Your Lies" has touches of elegance on their work, especially due some melodic guitar parts and solos. It's heavy, aggressive and melancholic.

The sound quality is very good. It's raw and dirty as their musical efforts need to become a somber and heavy form of music, but as well, it's clean in a sense that their songs need to be understood. All that's left to say, in a simple way, is that the balance between the needed clearness with the essential rawness is a satisfactory way.

The album has five songs only, but all of them are really good. "Echoes of Our Scars" is done in a depressive and heavy way, with some very good pianos on its beginning, before Hell comes in form of intense and good guitar riffs. On "Ends", they keep the same heavy and oppressive atmosphere, but some more melodic and elegant moments enter the song, with good grunts and excellent melodic guitars, and the same elements appear on "March", where some elegant and introspective guitar solos are great. The harsh and raw feeling of a funeral coming reigns on "Equidistant", where bass guitar and drums create a strong and heavy rhythmic basis, keeping the tempos slow and bitter. And "Forgotten by Her Bliss" is a final song, with very good aggressiveness presented, but with a darkened and morbid feeling.

They are really good, but WOMB has potential to go further and explore new musical possibilities.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Marcos Garcia

Review from Five Albums / Chris Nee

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:21:51 +0100

From: Five Albums / Chris Nee

Published: December 4, 2015

Original Link

This week's reviews begin in Spain, where doom metallers Womb have unleashed their first record Deception Through Your Lies, a remarkable, beautiful debut. It's dark and aggressive but also very crisp, even catchy in some places as it flirts with a kind of slow-motion death metal. Something I've come to love about doom is the way vocals become a mere part of a bigger, more complex composition. Womb have achieved that.

The album begins with the expansive and ethereal 'Echoes Of Our Scars', which is as doomy as it gets: slow, tense and gloomy as hell. 'Ends' picks up the pace just ever so slightly but loses none of the vicious atmospherics. I could get lost in 'March' for hours and 'Equidistant', released last year, is even more spaced out. In truth, these aren't really songs. They seem to merge into one, long piece. And what a piece it is.

Review from IsMetal666

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:22:05 +0100

From: IsMetal666

Published: December 21, 2015

Original Link

Recientemente editado, "Deception Through your lies" de los sevillanos Womb, comienza a rodar por las entrañas del Underground.

Bajo el amparo del sello ruso Solitude Prod. y sus compañeros de batalla, Hypnotic (Canada), esta joven formación sevillana nos trae un trabajo de Doom / Death muy melancólico reflejando acertadamente cómo se ha de mover un grupo por esos terrenos. Cinco temas que no llegan a los 35 minutos de duración mostrando que las canciones no bajan de los seis minutos cosa que nos indica que cada canción está trabajada y estructurada para formar un trabajo aceptable para un estilo como es el Doom / Death. Las buenas estructuras donde el nivel musical es aceptable y ese saber leer por dónde ha de caminar la música de este determinado estilo, acaban ofreciendo un disco que tiene un aprobado y que seguramente les valga para hacerse un hueco en el panorama nacional extremo. Si te gustan los elementos que rodean a gente como Anathema, Skepticism, Morgion, Shape of Dispair y similares podrían encajarte.

Review from The Pit of the Damned

Sat, 09 Apr 2016 22:57:11 +0100

From: The Pit of the Damned
Published: March 19, 2016
Original Link

Se mi sembrava strano che il funeral doom imperversasse in Brasile con gli HellLight, altrettanto strano mi suona che gli andalusi Womb si facciano portavoce di un death doom atmosferico. Diavolo, in quelle terre dove il sole splende alto nel cielo, che bisogno c'è di deprimersi con atmosfere di siffatta decadenza. Supportati dalla onnipresente Solitude Productions (sempre più in simbiosi con la Hypnotic Dirge Records), questo quartetto, tra le cui fila militano membri o ex di Winterstorm e Shattered Sigh, si abbandona ad un acerbo concentrato di sonorità doom che poco hanno da aggiungere a quanto già affolla la scena oggigiorno. Non posso negare che le melodie di "Echoes of Our Scars" non siano gradevoli, però trovo che la produzione scarna e scarsa, ne penalizzi non poco il risultato finale. Ovviamente, gli ingredienti del genere ci sono tutti: riff lenti e ossessivi, atmosfere cupe e apocalittiche, qualche accelerazione di matrice death e infine le immancabili funeste voci growl, che rappresentano il secondo punto di debolezza (forse ancor più grave della produzione) di questo 'Deception Through Your Lies' per cui lo relegano ad album per soli amanti del circuito funeral doom underground. Insomma, qui c'è spazio per crescere, non basta prendere i soliti punti di riferimento, Saturnus o i primi My Dying Bride, tanto per citarne un paio che ho percepito nella malinconica "March", per confezionare un album che possa puntare a chissà quali traguardi. 'Deception Through Your Lies' è sicuramente un lavoro onesto che però poco di innovativo ha da dire. Una maggiore cura nei dettagli a livello dei suoni con un vocalist un po' meno "cavernicolo" e qualcosa di meglio sarebbe sicuramente emerso dalle note di queste cinque tracce. Per ora rimandati, ma non perdete la fiducia mi raccomando.

Rating: 55/100
Reviewed by: Francesco Scarci

Review from Aristocrazia Webzine

Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:46:04 +0100

From: Aristocrazia Webzine

Published: March 14, 2016

Original Link

"Deception Through Your Lies" è l'album d'esordio degli spagnoli Womb, quintetto andaluso composto da musicisti particolarmente attivi nell'underground iberico, militando o avendo militato in Kjaftur, Windblown, Winterstorm, Shattered Sigh e Vikingore.

La creatura in questione si cimenta in un doom-death metal melodico che lambisce in più circostanze i territori del funeral, senza però addentrarvisi mai. Il suono proposto preferisce infatti puntare più sull'impatto emotivo-atmosferico imposto dalle chitarre melodiche, particolarmente orecchiabili, e sul massiccio growl del cantante Emilio, non affossandosi ritmicamente. Non si registra difatti la presenza di quei solchi profondi e di quello strisciare rovinoso classico del filone più estremo, tanto che potremmo paragonare la band a una versione piacevole e decisamente più lineare dei danesi Saturnus.

La formula compositiva semplice ma discretamente efficace funziona bene, almeno per quanto riguarda i tre brani iniziali "Echoes Of Our Scars", "Ends" e "March" (dotato di un maggiore dinamismo e di un inasprimento inatteso), perdendo però parte del mordente nelle tracce poste in coda, "Equidistant" e "Forgotten By Her Bliss". Ciò a causa del riciclo delle soluzioni utilizzate, che sfiorano la banalità nella canzone che chiude la scaletta; di un supporto tastieristico ridotto all'osso e al quale invece ci si sarebbe potuti affidare maggiormente, in modo tale da garantire ulteriore espansione ai frangenti di stampo atmosferico; e alla produzione, i cui suoni sono troppo sottili e poco incisivi nell'esprimere l'asprezza delle situazioni più nervose.

"Deception Through Your Lies" pianta delle discrete basi sulle quali poter portare avanti il progetto, i Womb non sono quindi da accantonare. Seppur per semplice conoscenza, l'ascolto andrebbe effettuato, confidando nel fatto che in un prossimo futuro i difetti oggi individuabili vengano corretti. Promossi con riserva.

Reviewed by: Gabriele Strano

Review from Extreme Metal Voyager

Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:40:09 +0100

From: Extreme Metal Voyager
Published: February 17, 2016
Original Link

Today’s album is produced by a Spanish band called Womb. Also worth mentioning is that this is a co-release between two labels; Russia’s Solitude Productions and Canada’s Hypnotic Dirge Records. Spain, Russia and Canada, now that’s a three way cooperation I don’t see that often. Pretty neat! First impression when glancing at the artwork: blackness prevails! Only ebony and no ivory, although Dale Cooper will probably tell you, that he takes his coffee blacker than what Womb have presented with their debut album “Deception Through Your Lies”, visually and musically speaking.

There’s not that much info on the band. “Equidistant”, a demo from 2014 might indicate that this is a relatively new band, and with limited descriptions and murky band pics, we’re dealing with an unabashed underground portrait. Anyway, the five tracks compiled for this release draw upon a classic doom metal model, immediately manifested in the lonely piano notes and heavy riffs of “Echoes Of Our Scars” which opens up the mournful affair.

As the track unfolds in all its vintage My Dying Bride fashion, it becomes apparent that while there are many familiar trademarks, the songwriting also involves a great deal of somewhat post black metal sounding styles in the guitar playing. There’s a lot of exchanges between slow, weeping leads (mostly identified within doom/gothic metal) and aggressive tremolo pickings, hinting at the more outstretched and fragile sounds of a post metal atmosphere.

Growls are solid, deep, aggressive and dark, almost as if the poor guy transformed into a soulless creature of the night when getting up to the mic in the studio. A point of criticism lies in the use of clean vocals on some of the songs. The mixed quality suggests that the approach to these serenading vocals could be improved, at least in my opinion. “Echoes Of Our Dust” is an example where the clean vocals seem both misplaced and lacking power (it’s allowed to sound pale in this genre, but I feel there should be intensity in the performance when one is portraying feelings of sadness and loss). On the other hand, “March” has some pretty morose vocals that connect with the rest of the music, so kudos on that one.

The album’s sound clings to low-fi qualities giving off the aforementioned post blackish atmospheres within the sturdy, doomy tempos and murky vocals. This can be seen as a strong asset, placing Womb in an interesting sound world. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if there was a bit more heaviness in the rhythm guitars, but yeah I’m just full of opinions today, opinions everywhere.

The songwriting has potential if further explored. “Ends”, “March” and “Equidistant” are good songs to use a base point to continue developing the style set in motion on “Deception Through Your Lies”. Ultimately, this is a release with some good material, snippets of interesting details and yet also exhibiting a few modest flaws.

Rating : 6,5 / 10

Reviewed by: Fróði Tórálvsson Stenberg

Review from Teeth of the Divine

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 23:18:04 +0100

From: Teeth of the Divine

Published: February 9, 2016

Original Link

Spain is known for a lot of things; its history, its culture, its cuisine and even to some extent it has a respectable death and black metal scene. But I’m not sure sunny Spain is the country people thing of when it comes to despondent, depressive doom/death metal. Well, once again Canada’s Hypnotic Dirge (arguably the most aptly named label out there), is here to help, and has re released the 2015 digital debut from Seville’s Womb on CD.

Culling very heavily from the Scandinavian and British doom scene of yore, Womb has a distinctly Finnish sound; long songs with crunchy guitars, super deep growls and layers of rending melodies over patient, plodding riffs and a light gloss of pianos and cellos. It’s a perfect rendition of the style and one that I always enjoy, and I get a bit of a Pantheist vibe, but those that enjoyed last years My Dying Bride effort and Shape of Despair’s return, should definitely check this out.

Opener “Echoes of Our Scars” pretty well capture’s the band’s sullen mope perfectly with a delicate piano tinkle amid some lethargic crumbling and a little acoustic break and mood shift about 5 minutes in that’s very well done. “Ends” and closer “Forgotten By her Bliss” ( the band is dialed into the depressive theme as well as the sound as you can see from the song titles) all deliver some top notch, really despondent melodies that compete with anything from their peers as far as getting you right in the feels. But it’s not a complete drone fest as third track, “March” even has a more uptempo, but still rending burst and “Equisdistant” adds a bit of a mid paced chug towards it climax.

I’m not sure if Deception Through Your Lies is an EP or a short (for a doom album) album, but with 5 songs and on 35 minutes it goes by fast for a doom record with no super long songs, wasted moments or drawn out atmospherics, instead choosing wisely to go straight for the wilting riffs. The atmospheric moments are short and sweet by way of either a piano, under started clean female vocals (“March”) or short acoustic bridge. So in all an pretty damn solid example for the genre, and one I look forward to hearing more off.

Reviewed by: E. Thomas

Review from Wings of Death

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 23:17:05 +0100

From: Wings of Death

Published: February 3, 2016

Original Link

Atmosferische doom metal uit Spanje, dat klinkt me redelijk bijzonder in de oren. Womb was tot voor kort voor mij een onbeschreven blad, met debuutalbum Deception Through Your Lies komt daar zowaar een einde aan. Overigens wel bijzonder dat een album van een Spaanse band - oorspronkelijk digitaal in eigen beheer verschenen - wordt uitgebracht via een samenwerking van een Canadees (Hypnotic Dirge Records) en een Russisch (Solitude Productions) label!

Op zich is het niet zo heel bijzonder wat de Spanjaarden ons hier voorschotelen. Mooi blijft het echter wel. De combinatie van zoete pianoklanken met een rauwe oergrunt, met daar doorheen waaierende gitaarpartijen zorgen inderdaad voor een erg sferisch geheel. Al kom ik na de eerste twee nummers wel tot een iets andere omschrijving dan het atmosferische doom-labeltje dat gebezigd wordt. Ik vind dit eerder een mix van doomdeath en funeral doom.

Een vergelijking met een band als het Nederlandse The 11th Hour komt redelijk dichtbij in opener Echoes of Our Scars, maar het repetitieve van nummers als Ends en (het eerste gedeelte van) March raakt zeker meer de richting van funeral doom. Nou ja, uiteindelijk maakt het natuurlijk niet uit hoe je de muziek noemt, het gaat om het gevoel dat je er bij krijgt. En dat is in dit geval positief wat mij betreft. Of ja, eerder een gevoel van melancholie, hetgeen in het geval van doom natuurlijk als positief valt uit te leggen.

Zeer verfrissend zijn de sporadische tempoversnellingen die opgevoerd worden. Goed voor de afwisseling; en daarmee kom ik natuurlijk ook op het death metal-gehalte in de muziek. Al blijft het tempo overwegend traag, maak je maar niet ongerust. Verder klinkt de muziek vrij open, elk element krijgt de ruimte, al zijn de vocalen wel erg aanwezig, misschien wel iets te. Evengoed staat dat het genieten van de sferische gitaarlijnen en lome ritmesectie niet in de weg. Fraai plaatje!

Reviewed by: Chris van der Aa

Review from Metal Observer

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 01:04:25 +0100

From: Metal Observer
Published: January 4, 2016
Original Link

When the Spanish atmospheric/funeral doom band Womb independently released their debut album back in May, Hypnotic Dirge Records and Solitude Productions decided to jointly reissue it. Their decision is good for us, as Deception through Your Lies is certainly worthy of a wider audience.

Womb has all of the aspects fans of funeral doom know and love: slow, plodding riffs, deep, guttural vocals, and a somber, funereal atmosphere. But Womb does mix it up a bit; they’re not quite as slow as many of their peers, they tend to write shorter songs (relatively speaking, the shortest track on the album is just over six minutes) and they have much more of an emphasis on melody than many funeral doom acts.

The emphasis on melody is apparent from the opening track, “Echoes of Our Scars,” which weaves a gentle, bleak piano melody into the rich guitar melodies, which recall My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun. The latter also come to mind from the cavernous, pained vocals. “Echoes of Our Scars” alone is worth the price of admission, being both beautiful and miserable. It’s the standout track, although “March” and “Equidistant” are both solid as well. “Ends” and “Forgotten by Her Bliss,” the other two tracks, aren’t quite as good, although the latter does at least sport an excellent guitar melody.

Like most doom bands, Womb aims for a depressing, somber atmosphere and it’s on this front that Deception through Your Lies is most successful. This is a bleak album, despite the band’s injection of melody. It ranges from soft and introspective (“Echoes of Our Scars”) to totally despondent, as on “Equidistant.” These are melodies that sink in and don’t let go, giving the album the emotional depth necessary for good funeral doom.

Deception through Your Lies has a flaw worth mentioning, and it concerns the production. It’s just a little too thin; an added bass presence would beef it up considerably. Why the bass is so absent is unclear, considering the toms and bass drum are certainly audible and in fact may be even be a little too upfront. The guttural vocals might also benefit from a greater bass presence.

Still, this minor issue aside it’s abundantly clear that Womb is a funeral doom band to watch for and Deception through Your Lies is a quality debut. Boasting some good songs with tasteful, dark melodies, Deception through Your Lies certainly shows potential and is highly recommended for fans of funeral doom and atmospheric metal.

Rating: 7.5/10
Reviewed by: Nathan Hare