CoC : Downfall - Der Anfang vom Ende : Review

Downfall - _Der Anfang vom Ende_
by: Pedro Azevedo (4 out of 5)

Not only did this twenty minutes long demo tread a strange path to reach me, as it also presents some rather unexpected music. No metal here. This demo is a piece of very melancholic, depressive music, with goth-like vocals, acoustic guitars (used mainly as rhythm guitars) and sparse percussion. The center of Downfall's sound, however, is the mournful cello, in which dwells most of what I find interesting in _Der Anfang vom Ende_. (Perhaps strangely, or maybe not, this French band decided to translate their lyrics to German and exclusively use that language on this demo.) Downfall could be accused of being somewhat repetitive, and it is indeed true that the vocals don't always sound too well. But with songs like "Mein Schmerz", it became a demo I listened to more than I initially expected -- mainly thanks to the emotion found in the music, in which I must stress that the cello plays a fundamental part.

Contact: Autumn Productions, 51 Rue de la Pomme

(article published 7/6/1998)