Amber Tears (Янтарные Слезы) - Откровения Отреченных (Revelations Of Renounced) (CD)

pagan / doom metal, BadMoodMan Music, BadMoodMan Music
466.67 Р
Price in points: 700 points
BMM. 053-12 x
In stock
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Truly long-awaited by many fans re-issue of the album is finally available after the original release is sold out long time ago. «Revelations Of Renounced» is not a simple additional press, but the re-issue of the classical album of the band in the form the musicians had initially planned it to be issued, both cover art wise and master-disc wise. There is no need to describe the music which can be found at this album because all fans of Russian heavy music know Amber Tears as talented band organically combining pagan metal and doom metal. Now everybody can add this magnificent album to music collection!

Tracklist:
1. Intro 2:34
2. Сквозь Осенний Дождь 8:02
3. Оставив Слезы 6:10
4. Над Полями Веков… 4:18
5. Зов Мечты 7:15
6. Дорогой Теней 6:19
7. Снег 6:21
8. Отреченное Одиночество 15:08

Artist:
Amber Tears (Янтарные Слезы)
Artist Country:
Russia
Album Year:
2006
Title:
Откровения Отреченных (Revelations Of Renounced)
Genre:
pagan / doom metal
Format:
CD
Type:
CD Album
Package:
Jewel Case
Label:
BadMoodMan Music
Cat Num:
BMM. 053-12
Release Year:
2012
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
Review
Heavy Music
10/10
28.11.2012

Лейбл Solitude Productions представляет переиздание некогда дебютного, а теперь уже ставшего культовым альбома. Через долгих шесть лет диск увидел свет с новым оформление и ремастерингом. Однако, всё осталось в рамках пожеланий самих музыкантов. Именно таким, каким бы они и хотели видеть сей релиз.

Сама же эта пластинки известна в первую очередь использованием и грамотным соединением пэган-фолкового наследия беларусов Gods Tower с дум-металом, превратившись в итоге в уникальный межжанровый сплав, заинтересовавший и растопивший сердца многих поклонников красивой и мелодичной музыки.

Выход этого диска - отличный способ порадовать всех старых поклонников и заставить их ещё раз вспомнить творчество команды, а так же, возможно, заинтересовать новых

Author: Grimmsberg
Review
Pest Webzine
9/10

First released by Stygian Crypt Productions in 2008 and sold out shortly after, Amber Tears' debut album is now re-released by BadMoodMan with different cover artwork. I can see why this has become a legendary release for the Russian scene, all lyrics are in native language and the music is not bad at all, it's very commercial but still keeping it limited to the Pagan and Doom Metal markets, not widely commercial. Powerful guitar riffs completed by atmospheric keyboards, melancholic guitar leads and a wide variety of vocals, all creating a very heavy atmosphere. I think it's a real treat understanding the lyrics also as the vocals are very comprehensive even if they are screams and growls. Saturnus and Katatonia obviously come to mind while listening to Amber Tears' music, but that doesn't mean we have a copycat here, this is a very good album composed and played by talented musicians so if you missed this the first time try not to miss it now.

Author: Adrian
Review
Doom-metal.com
23.10.2012

Bad Mood Man, a subdivision of the prestigious Russian Doom label Solitude Productions, has been known for covering the softer, more atmospheric and sometimes also more untypical realms of the genre, and Янтарные Слёзы (Amber Tears) make no exception. Apparently the label picked them up for their second album in 2010, and now they have re-issued the debut Откровение Отречённых (Revelation Renounced) which was originally released on Stygian Crypt in 2006. The re-issue ends with a hidden track which does not seem to be a part of the original album; it is more in a classic Heavy Metal vein and does not really add anything significant, so if you already own a copy, you can skip this new release altogether.

The band, too, is based in Russia and plays melodic, easy on the ears Death Doom. Their music is very epic throughout, full of soaring lead guitars and solos which are embedded in midtempo arrangements. The drumming is very energetic for Doom standards, adding to the epic feel, and majestic keyboards are constantly weaving their textures in the background. Vocal-wise, we get powerful growls, occasional spoken words or whispers and very few clean vocals. Without exaggeration, this entire album is an incessant deluge of catchy melodies, proving that the musicians have quite a compositional talent; however, this approach has its downside: after a few minutes, the songs become pretty predictable, serving us more of the same till the album ends. From this perspective they can seem a bit shallow, leaving little room for subtleties. But the band clearly achieve what they were aiming for; after all, there is no reason to assume that surprises and subtleties are part of their musical vision in the first place. The melodies and arrangements are often as epic as it gets and can be pretty engaging if they strike a chord with your personal taste. It will help if that taste also includes Pagan Metal, for Янтарные Слёзы seem to draw heavily from that genre in the general feel of their music, although they keep things very basic – you won’t find any choirs, folk influences or fancy instruments here.

The matter with this album is really very simple: It is good for what it is, so if the above descriptions seem appealing, then you are unlikely to be disappointed; if, by contrast, they do not exactly raise high expectations, you probably won’t miss anything at all here. In terms of atmosphere and songwriting, Откровение Отречённых is arguably only a borderline case of Doom Metal and has nothing in common with either the suffocating darkness and crushing riffage of the more extreme Death Doom acts, or the emotional fragility of the mellower bands in the genre. Consequently, some will love it and others will hate it. This may seem like a rather dull conclusion, but there are cases where it simply comes down to taste in the end.

Author: Dominik Sonders
Review
Aristocrazia
21.10.2012

Quando nel 2011 recensì il secondo lavoro degli Amber Tears "Key To December" scrissi a inizio del testo che il debutto "Revelation Of Renounced" non mi dispiacque e che al tempo stesso la produzione di quell'album al tempo prodotto dalla Stygian Crypt Productions non mi aveva convinto granché.
Da quell'uscita sono trascorsi sei anni e il disco in questione viene reimmesso sul mercato dall'altra label russa che si muove imperterrita nel territorio doom e affine, parlo della Solitude Productions che lo ristampa con un artwork differente dall'originale ma comunque incentrato su una raffigurazione di stampo naturalistico autunnale, periodo in cui il principio del decadimento che condurrà al letargo l'ambiente che ci circonda prende il via, e una produzione che stavolta recupera punti dando spessore alla sezione ritmica che nella versione antecedente veniva leggermente gambizzata.
"Revelation Of Renounced" è adesso un platter che suona maggiormente vivo e coinvolgente rispetto al già intrigante passato che lo rappresentava, la commistione di doom albionico e d'influenze scandinave, in alcune sezioni sembra di ascoltare uno stravagante ma interessante incrocio fra i My Dying Bride e gli Amorphis del periodo che va dagli inizi della carriera sino a "Elegy", può finalmente esprimersi sui livelli che merita, ora ogni singolo frangente, si parli delle scanalature che affondano, dilatano e rendono più spesso il sound orientandolo in ambiente gothic/doom, o le scappatoie folkloristiche che alimentano quell'atmosfera che tende di passo in passo a ingrigire il disco mostra di saper tenere testa e avere qualcosa da dire.
Certo le parole non sono le loro, non posso comunque esimermi dal consigliarvi l'ascolto di tracce quali "Through Autumnal Rain", bella la sezione solistica e il lavoro di rifinitura della chitarra e l'accoppiata composta da "Over The Fields Of Ages" e "Call Of The Dreams" adornate da quelle divagazioni dal gusto "folk" che in maniera palese pescano dalla realtà di Tomi Koivusaari e Esa Holopainen per avere un sunto più che identificativo della scelta stilistica intrapresa al tempo e che purtroppo in "Key To Remember" dimostrò ahimé d'aver perso parte del suo smalto.
Gli Amber Tears non erano e non sono una band di geniacci ma degli onestissimi mestieranti che fanno ciò che sanno fare meglio, suonare e comporre del gothic/doom che con la sua semplicità e il suo spirito motivato dalla storia già scritta negli anni Novanta si possa inserire nello stereo senza subire chissà quale orribile sorpresa. Per coloro che con perseveranza seguono e acquistano materiale simile, un platter come "Revelation Of Renounced" potrebbe essere alquanto appetibile in attesa che i russi sfornino il terzo capitolo discografico.

Author: Mourning
Review
Femforgacs
9/10
22.09.2012

Az írásom a kötelező körökkel kell kezdenem, ami egy viszonylag ismeretlen bandánál szinte már nélkülözhetetlen és mi lehetne ismeretlenebb, mint egy orosz nyelven megszólaló, Penza városából származó melodikus, pogány doomot játszó zenekar? Pedig az elvtársaknál nagyon jó bandák léteznek ebben a mezőnyben (Abyssphere, Synkletos, The Morningside és még sokan mások) köszönhetően a BadMoonMan Musicnak és a Stygian Crypt Productionsnek. E két kiadót már megjárta az Amber Tears, most a Solitude (BadMoonMan is az ő szárnyaik alatt létezik) gondolta úgy, hogy érdemes foglalkozni a 2002 óta létező zenekarral, akiknek jelen kritika tárgyát képező első, erősre sikeredett és méltatlan sorsú lemezét újra kiadja immáron pofás külsővel. Nem is tartom ezt bajnak, hiszen a második, Key To December c. korongjuk annak idején nagyon a szívemhez nőtt és a Forgácson is megjelent róla már egy tetszetős kritika.
Az orosz szöveg abszolút nem zavaró, sőt, még talán hozzá is tesz némileg a hangulathoz. Modern, gördülékeny doom metalt kapunk nagyrészt még érthető hörgéssel, néha-néha tiszta énekkel fűszerezve, amit a fülbemászó, folkos témákat sem mellőző doom riffek tudnak igazán eladni nekünk. Nincsenek kiugró kísérletezések, sem megváltás, csupán a rendkívül atmoszférikus hangulat, ami inkább súlyként nehezedik ránk, mintsem félelmetes, esetleg horrorisztikus lenne.
Megkapjuk a kötelezően mélyre hangolt gitárokat, visszhangzó akkordokat egyaránt, a dobfelszerelés minden érintése tökéletesen hallatszik. Nem fukarkodtak a gitárszólókkal sem, érezhető, hogy a gyökereik visszanyúlnak a 90-es évek sötét doom világa felé is. A folk hatások beépítése a korai Amorphisra és a Moonsorrowra emlékeztetnek, de bevillannak a Saturnus és Anathema párhuzamok is.
Az énekes, Anton Bandurin szövegvilága ugyan a homályba vész az eredeti nyelvezet miatt, mégis valami furcsa, szomorkás légkört tud megteremteni a hangjával, még ha néha csak halk mormogással, szövegeléssel is tesz hozzá a zenéhez. Némi utánajárással ugyan képet kaptam a szövegvilágról, de rögtön feleslegesnek is éreztem, mivel érzések szintjén is képes volt azokba a gondolatmedrekbe elkalauzolni, amiről szó van. A témavilágban leginkább az ember és a természet kapcsolatára fektetnek hangsúlyt, a körülöttünk lévő világ lassú változásait, gyakran pusztulását ültetik át emberi szemszögbe. Ez nem újdonság ugyan, de az én gondolatvilágomhoz is igencsak közel áll. Ez adja meg a valódi pogány hangulatot: a nap az élet forrása, a méltó elmúlást pedig a rothadó avar magasztos bűze szolgáltatja. Az ember próbálja kitépni magát a természet szorításából és törvényei alól, mégsem sikerül neki, mivel a legnagyobb erő, amivel valaha dolgunk lehet. Az album már egy elvesztett csata utáni világot tár elénk, ahol az ember céltalanul megy előre a sötétségbe, minden reményét feladva az ellen, hogy végül ő is elpusztul és semmivé válik.

Az album összesen 8 tételt tartalmaz, ebből az első és utolsó rövid instrumentális dal. A játékidő bő háromnegyed óra, ami bőven elég és töltelékmentes. Az Intro nagyrészt a természet hangjait tárja elénk, elvezet a borítón látható erdőbe, ahonnét sokáig nem szabadulhatunk. A dalok olyan "doomos" hosszúságokkal bírnak, az általam leginkább kedvelt 6 perc körüli szerzemények dominálnak. Amivel igazán megnyertek maguknak, az egy olyan ív, amit a dalokba akarva-akaratlanul tudtak beépíteni. A lemez elejétől magas a színvonal, de egyre mélyebbre visz az erdőbe dalról dalra, egyre árnyaltabbak lesznek a számok és a végén sem kapunk igazán megnyugvást. Nem könnyű hallgatnivaló, az izgalmakra vágyók messze kerüljék, de aki elbolyongana kicsit ebben a hullámzó, lélegző, pusztuló rengetegben, annak feltétlenül meg kell ismernie a zenekart. A folytatás sem lett utolsó, mint már említettem, bár a folk/pagan vonalat egy árnyalatnyival epikusabb hangvételben adják elő.

Author: boymester
Review
Lords of Metal

Het debuutalbum van Amber Tears Revelation Of Renounced werd in juni 2006 uitgebracht door Stygian Crypt Productions. Daarna, eind 2010, bracht men de opvolger The Key To December uit. Dit zijn twee opmerkelijk prachtige doom metal albums van een band uit Penza in Rusland. Alles is ook in het Russisch gezongen en uit cd boekje of sociale media wordt je amper wijzer. Nu heeft BadMoodMan Music / Solitude Productions het debuut terug uitgebracht, opnieuw gemasterd en met nieuw artwork. Het album wordt nu ook Revelation Renounced genoemd. Wie houdt van Saturnus, My Dying Bride, Draconian of Swallow The Sun heeft hier een Russische variant van goede kwaliteit. Ik sta nog steeds achter mijn uitgebreide bespreking van dit album dat ik eind 2006 schreef en dat je hier kunt lezen.

Autnor: Vera
Review
Forbidden Magazine
05.10.2012

Amber Tears have been one of my favorite Russian bands over the last few years, starting with their 2010 sophomore effort The Key To December, and now their debut is back in print and is one of my top melodic pagan metal releases of the year, actually, the only one, as this one has a more doom tint and I don’t generally like the genre all that much as a whole. Unlike much of the pagan metal genre where the rhythms and folklore/folk lineage have taken a bit too much of a literal translation in the music itself giving it a sort of ridiculousness at times that kills the previous founding efforts of Bathory, Windir, Falkenbach, Summoning…

Amber Tears, quite possibly due to my recent Summoning listening marathons, at times do bear a strong resemblance to Summoning minus the Tolkien lyrics… and an addition of Evoken-like doom. The Summoning vibe is especially felt on the 6th and 7th songs with their majestic “homeward journey” atmospheres. My guess is that the lyrics here deal with Russian heritage and lore, but given that the entire album is in Russian, text and lyrics, I can’t say for certain but it’s a very likely bet that they do given all the sound itself. The vocals range from doom death to deep black metal growls and are evenly balanced either within a song or between songs, never too harsh or too extreme. In other words they don’t sound like a pack of wild bears ( a way an ex-coworkers wife said most of his listening choices sounded like). Occasionally there are clean, spoken word poetic narratives to induce atmosphere, but virtually no clean “singing” is prevalent except for on the fifth and sixth songs where they make an appearance.

The riffs are heavy all the way through, down-tuned of course, but not suffocating like doom death often can be… there’s a lot of air to breathe and sensations of times past but not forgotten. I enjoy the clean production that places the riffs in the mix with the melodic leads upfront and crisp percussion with a solid bass thump for the bass drum giving it a more primal pagan feel. Again, I’m not big on the pagan metal style overall for reasons as said already, but Amber Tears gives a transfusion of new blood into the old bringing about a perfect meeting of old and new eras that is memorable and distinct, without obvious tendencies and fitting into anything intentionally.

Fans of Evoken, Summoning, Kampfar, Windir should take a definite interest.

Author: Janet Willis
Review
Metal.tm
30.09.2012

Die augenscheinlich aus Russland stammenden AMBER TEARS brachten mit "Revelation of Renounced" anno 2006 ihr Debutalbum heraus, welches nun hier als Rerelease vorliegt. Ihre Musik beschreibt das Quintett als eine Mischung aus Folk und Doom Metal, was dem Ganzen hier in etwa einen passenden Rahmen verleiht. Ansonsten ist neben einem Zweitling mit dem klingenden Namen "Key to December" nicht viel über die Band bekannt, was ein bisschen den Nutzen hinter diesem Rerelease hinterfragen lässt, da augenscheinlich kein allzu großer Bedarf zu existieren scheint.

Und wenn man sich "Revelation of Renounced" mal angehört hat, dann stellt sich die Frage nach dem Sinn nur noch stärker, denn eigentlich gibt es auf dem Album wenig, was eine solche Zweitveröffentlichung rechtfertigt. Doch fangen wir mal bei den Grundlagen an. AMBER TEARS bieten auf ihrem Debut, wie bereits beschrieben, eine Mischung aus Folk und Doom Metal, obwohl man immer öfters auch ein bisschen Black Metal herauszuhören glaubt. Dadurch erinnern die Russen teilweise recht gravierend an DRUDKH, wobei sie deren Qualitätslevel nie erreichen. Doch der leicht schrammelige, naturnahe Unterton auf "Revelation of Renounced" lässt diese Assoziation doch öfters aufblitzen.

Qualitätstechnisch reihen sich AMBER TEARS aber eher drei Reihen hinter DRUDKH ein, nämlich dort wo sich alle generischen 08/15-Pagan/Black Metal Bands befinden. Da hilft den Russen auch die Langsamigkeit ihrer Stücke, die sie als den Doom Metal Einfluss beschreiben, nicht viel. "Revelation of Renounced" verliert sich irgendwo zwischen dem unspektakulären Gesang, den eklig-kitschigen Melodien und dem unspannenden Songwriting irgendwo im Niemandsland. Das Debut der Russen rauscht nur so am Hörer vorbei, ohne dass (bis auf diese ekligen und nervigen Melodien) irgendetwas dessen Aufmerksamkeit erregen würde. Da hilft auch die selten aufblitzende, naturnahe Atmosphäre nichts, da sie völlig durch das Songwriting kaputt gemacht wird.
Was bleibt sind über 50 langweilige Minuten von Standard Folk Metal, der so langweilig ist, dass es schon wieder nervt.

Author: Tizian C.
Review
Ave Noctum
7.5/10
01.10.2012

Those wonderful people at Bad Mood Man Music and Solitude Productions continue to do an excellent job in promoting the best in Russian doom, and the very welcome re-issue of Amber Tears long since unavailable 2006 debut is their latest offering. These Russian bands tend to come in varying degrees of accessibility, and those unfamiliar with the language, both spoken and written, will struggle to even identify this album in a shop, as the band name and song titles are all written in the native tongue. Luckily a small amount of internet based investigation will decode the song titles, so there’s no need to go and order the language course just yet. With this album, it’s far better to let the music speak for itself anyway.

Amber Tears brand of folk doom is very similar in approach and sound to their label mates The Morningside. Once we get past the seemingly obligatory rainy introduction, we realise that in this instance there is an excuse rather than just wheeling out a folk doom cliché, as we wander ‘Through Autumnal Rain’. Initially, you could be excused for dismissing this as folk doom by numbers, but when you really listen to the individual components that make up the music you realise that this is a few levels above the average. The clean vocals are very low in the mix and seem rather lost yet they do burn through and have an effect. It is when Anton Bandurin unleashes his formidable death growl that things really pick up, and the combined effect of his vocal delivery and the rich musical composition bears comparison with Draconian’s ‘Arcane Rain Fell’. The musical influences are the obvious ones, including the Peaceville three, early Katatonia, Saturnus and as I said before, Draconian. One of the absolute strongest elements of the band is their use of melody, driven in particular by the guitar pairing of Dmitry Tschukin and Alexey Ryliakin. The lead guitar in particular carries that higher pitched yet expressive and mournful tone, and some of the lead breaks have been enough to set the hairs up on the back of my neck. This, I should point out is a good thing.

The folk sound comes across strongly on tracks like ‘Over The Fields Of Ages’, in which I found a similarity in approach to some of Skyclad’s earlier work. Whilst the melody is very important, it is essential that we don’t overlook the contribution of the rhythm section, with Viktor Kulikov’s drumming being of a particularly high standard, being one of those drummers that is not content merely to provide a beat, but plays with enough creativity to make the drums stand out on their own merit. If only they were slightly higher in the mix…

So much about this album is an absolute joy to listen to, and for fans of folk doom I urge you to seek this out immediately, if not sooner. There is just one small niggling issue that I had with the album though, and that is the final track ‘Renounced Solitude’. Yes, it clocks in at 15 minutes in duration, and normally I would have no issues with that whatsoever, but whoever decided that 10 mins of silence at the start of the track was necessary needs shooting. I was listening to this in the car, and the completely unnecessary break no only ruined the flow of the album, but had me shouting at the band in frustration. Putting that secret track on is one thing, but listing the track and having nearly ten minutes of dead air at the start of it, that’s pretty bloody daft, and I’ve deducted a whole mark from the album as a result. If you take out that long stretch of nothing and take the music as a whole however, this is a stunning album and well worthy of a reissue.

Author: Lee Kimber
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