CoC : Doom:VS - Earthless : Review

Doom:VS - _Earthless_
(Solitude Productions, 2014)
by: Chaim Drishner (4.5 out of 10)

_Earthless_ is a corny album if there ever was one, and apart from the phenomenal, bleak cover art -- this album is virtually the culmination of all that is cliché. And it's not even the metal niche Doom:VS belong to, that is to say ultra melodic, romantic doom/death alongside Saturnus and other bands (fill in the blanks with a zillion other bands playing the exact same style) -- it's the way the songs had been written and executed. Every genre-defining element, every rule in the melodic doom/death 101 rule book -- was incorporated into _Earthless_, leaving no space for any subjective, personal and singular interpretation of the style, echoing a thousand other bands.

From the lyrics -- that read like a textbook for cliché-ridden romanticized sorrow and pain made of plastic -- through the dual vocal approach (a growler and a clean singer, what else?!) and the vocals themselves, to the musical material, the structuring of the songs and the sound ethics (and we could go on and on and on counting the many faults found in this album) -- _Earthless_ displays an impressive lack of inspiration, and in fact, this may be the most uninspired album of the year.

Not that there's anything particularly -bad- in the music of Doom:VS, but the album's steady-state, uneventful, faceless music, makes it a redundant product to say the least. Fans of melodic doom/death with a romantic and slightly depressive edge are advised to seek elsewhere for a more convincing display of tunes than what's on _Earthless_. Did we mention the cover art is awesome?

Contact: http://doomvs.bandcamp.com/album/earthless

(article published 16/10/2014)

ALBUMS
11/9/2008	P Azevedo	8	Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak
7/28/2006	P Azevedo	7.5	Doom:VS - Aeternus Vale