CoC : Forgotten Tomb - Love's Burial Ground : Review

Forgotten Tomb - _Love's Burial Ground_
(Adipocere, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)

This Italian outfit scored some decent points with 2003's _Springtime Depression_, its mix of black and doom metal showing promise but also requiring considerable refinement. Starting off in a much faster vein than anything on its predecessor, the first few minutes of _Love's Burial Ground_'s opener "Kill Life" instead bring to mind a more polished version of Darkthrone's "Transylvanian Hunger". Sullen string sections and slower passages soon carry the album firmly into black/doom territory however, with mostly black metal sound and vocals being used as a medium to communicate feelings more commonly associated with doom metal -- and therefore returning to what Forgotten Tomb are best known for. On some occasions the only shred of black metal left in their sound seems to be the agonizing vocals, with doomy guitar leads taking over the music; a good example can be found on "Alone". Forgotten Tomb successfully continue to incorporate various approaches into their decidedly and coherently negative sound throughout the record, including some simple but effective sombre piano on "House of Nostalgia", which grows from a Dolorian-like slow and atmospheric dirge into a blackened climax.

Well produced and musically interesting, _Love's Burial Ground_ also proves more varied and engaging than its predecessor, which tended to become somewhat more repetitive. With songs that usually approach the ten minute mark however, _Love's Burial Ground_ quickly adds up to over one hour of material; and although there is no real reason to start skipping tracks midway through, the album fails to retain quite the same level of interest after its excellent first half (up to the ambient intermezzo) -- enough to cost it half a mark. Nevertheless, Forgotten Tomb have done very well on this release: it sounds more mature and fully realized than their previous work, and places the band firmly amidst the leading pack in the blackened doom subgenre.

Contact: http://www.forgottentomb.com

(article published 7/4/2005)

ALBUMS
12/1/2007	P Azevedo	8	Forgotten Tomb - Negative Megalomania