Pungent, slow as the torture Prometheus was condemned, full of contrasts, and, yet, malevolently melodic. I present you “October Decay,” a great example of how a Doom Metal album should be. The impacting melody of “The Depths” is just an example of how Red Moon Architect built an album full of contrasts of a pungent harsh male voice performed by Ville Rutanen with a sweet angelical voice performed by Anni Viljanen followed by emotional guitar leads and licks. I find it interesting how Metal music deals with these male/harsh/evil and female/sweet/angelic role stereotypes. Well, musically, I must say they work just fine due to the construction of the contrasts I am always talking about. Red Moon Architect used them pretty well here.
Musicwise, I must say the impression I got from “October Decay” is that it sounds more like an Old School Heavy Metal band in a slower tempo than Doom Metal. Album opener “Frozen Tomb” gives this impression from the beginning with the very slow perfomed NWOBHM guitar riff. Well, to some extent, Doom Metal is made like this, but here with this album I felt it stronger. As I said before, the impact of the male/female duo vocals is really impressive and what makes this album so interesting. Both roles are pretty well determined here as Ville Rutanen makes the gutural evil corpse and Anni Viljanen makes his angelical opposite. In fact, it is Anni’s voice that gives the melodic verve while Ville’s vociferates. I think the slow tempo and cadence reinforce them due to the more time to process all the musical information delivered.
From what I heard here, “October Decay” is an album that may please not only doom metallers, but all metallers that are in the mood of listening to their vocal contrasts and dark melodies. The way Red Moon Architect mixes Old School Heavy Metal features with Doom Metal is also a highlight that would help conquer fans from both Metal styles. Let’s say the band has the best from both worlds.
Red Moon Architect “October Decay” will be released on April 18th via Noble Demon.
Track Listing:
- Frozen Tomb
- The Depths
- Decay of Emotions
- In Silence
- On the Edge of Sanity
- First of October
Watch “First of October” official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
