Aut Mori - Первая Слеза Осени (Pervaja Sleza Oseni) (CD)

Review
Temple of Doom Metal
11.8/10

Em 2009, os Auto-de-Fé viram uma boa parte dos seus elementos em debandada e a darem origem a projectos como estes Aut Mori ou reforçando os Sea of Despair. Se estes têm já uma série de lançamentos, aqueles apresentam-se às hordes com este álbum moldado em oito segmentos onde reinam o doom e o gótico, naquela (e)terna dualidade bela vs monstro, onde as guitarras soam chorosas e as teclas marcam os temas com as suas texturas e ambientes. Pois bem, está visto que o ouvinte não irá encontrar, aqui, grandes, ou mesmo nenhumas, novidades. Este, foi um filão largamente explorado desde há alguns anos e já teve o seu devido hype, já consagrou algumas bandas (e, também, algumas carinhas larocas), tem os seus álbuns de referência e, no entretanto porque isto é mesmo assim, começou a entrar na sua curva descendente. Portanto, estes russos entram neste barco já na fase em que o velame está já muito poído pela acção dos ventos, a mastreação range demasiado e o casco já conheceu melhores dias. Isto não quer dizer que estamos perante um mau trabalho; muito pelo contrário. Temas coesos, com uma matriz definidora do princípio ao fim quanto à abordagem musical pretendida, sem grandes divagações e perdas de tempo desnecessárias, criando um todo bastante homogéneo, ao qual Jerry Torstensson, dono do banquinho da bateria dos Draconian e Olof Göthlin que também participou no último álbum da banda sueca, não serão alheios. No entanto, a segunda metade deste opus torna-se um pouco monótona - onde a excepção é mesmo 'Jelegija Bezmjatezhnosti', uma das melhores malhas de todo o álbum a par de 'Nebo' -, perdendo um bocado a capacidade de captar a nossa total atenção.
'Pervaja Sleza Oseni', ou melhor 'First Tear of Autumn', não irá trazer nada de novo ao movimento gothic/doom, mas mostra-se um registo sólido ao qual faltam dois ou três momentos que nos deixem de queixo caído e permitam ao colectivo ganhar o seu espaço e reconhecimento. Os ventos poderão mudar, mas isso também passa pelos Aut Mori.

Review
Ave Noctum
9/10
26.01.2013

The beauty and the beast style of gothic doom is not an easy sound to master. Popularised by the likes of Draconian and Theatre of Tragedy (until that dingbat decided he wanted to be a robot), the key is the chemistry between the two singers. Many bands who try fall considerably short of the mark, but Aut Mori manage to hit it with their new album. They did have help from someone who knows a little bit about this sort of thing though, with Draconian’s own Jerry Torstensson having a hand in the production process.

I’ll get one thing out the way now. I don’t speak Russian, which has made deciphering the song titles a rather tricky process, as Aut Mori have been rather unhelpful by only including the titles in their own language. Not to be deterred however, I tracked down a friend of mine who was able to assist with the translations, so if he’s got any of them wrong, it’s his fault, I did try after all! The title track ‘The First Teardrop To Fall’ is the obligatory instrumental intro track that bands of this style like to use, however it is beautifully and richly done, and shortly leads into ‘My Song – Silence’. The guitar and drum sound are very similar to Draconian in their ‘Turning Season Within’ phase, and the pace is slow and brooding without being funereal. The ‘beauty’ element of the vocals is provided by Nati Chitadze whose voice is not the most powerful or soaring but is both tuneful and graceful, and that provides the ideal juxtaposition to Evgeniy Chepur’s deep booming and powerful ‘beast’ vocal. The balance between the two really is spot on, and from the moment Chepur’s voice kicks in, this escalates from merely pleasant to captivating. Maria Sorokina’s keyboards provide a rich and emotive background to things, whilst the guitars of Stepan Sorokin and Alexey Chernyshov’s guitars carve a mournful path through the introduction to ‘Heaven’. As with Draconian, aside from the excellent use of the vocals, the guitar melody has always been the chief weapon in the arsenal and the same is absolutely true of Aut Mori, with some of the guitar melodies providing a genuinely moving experience.

One slight problem is that the album never really changes pace, which may put some people off. I think the pace is just about right to maintain the attention overall, and Chepur’s voice never fails to grab the attention if your mind has maybe started to wander. Certainly from my perspective there was little chance of that happening as I’ve always been a fan of this style of gothic doom, and certainly when it is delivered with this sort of quality and conviction. The likes of ‘My Eternal Rain’ and ‘Elegy of Serenity’ are up there in quality with the likes of Draconian and My Dying Bride, as they manage to make the sound of sorrow so engaging and even uplifting.

It’s always a pleasure receiving albums from Solitude and Bad Mood Man as they are invariably a sign of quality, and in Aut Mori they have delivered another cracking album from a band I would love to hear more from. The songs may well be performed entirely in Russian, but that does not matter, as the beauty is in the sound and the performance. Since I got this it’s barely been off the player, and I suspect it’s going to be there for some time to come yet. Fans of the gothic doom sound should add this one to their collection immediately.

Author: Lee Kimber

Review
Doom-metal.com
15.01.2013

You'd almost have to believe that if the word 'Autumn' was to be withdrawn, a whole section of the Russian Doom scene would be put out of business. Since it hasn't, though, you might also be forgiven for thinking 'here we go again': a booklet filled with moody black-and-white band photos and dense Cyrillic script; the cover a single, curled leaf caught in the gossamer of a broken spiderweb. Their name is Latin, presumably taken from the fatalistic half of aut vincere aut mori (either to conquer, or to die). It's not an especially subtle hint that the ubiquitous seasonal reference is going to embrace those lonely, rainswept tragedies beloved of the Melodic Gothic/Doom fraternity.

Well, so be it. Whether that comes across as an honest display of heart being worn on sleeve or a painfully laboured cliché will largely depend on your predisposition towards the legacy of early Draconian, whom the promotional blurb cites the band as being 'in the vein of'. And, perhaps, a certain degree of curiosity, given that it has been released through the BadMoodMan subdivision of Solitude Productions - which suggests that it doesn't precisely fit in with the Gothic/Death/Funeral Doom albums usually handled by the mother label.

One thing you can be fairly sure of, being from Solitude, is that the packaging, presentation and technical side of the release will be up to their usual high standards. Even if the booklet content may not be to your taste (or comprehension, in my case), there's plenty of it, accompanying a pleasingly clear and well-produced CD. Top marks for that, at any rate. And, with plenty of help from Google Translate, it is possible to figure out that the five-piece band comprises male vocalist, two guitarists, keyboards and bass, with a guest female vocalist and, continuing the Draconian connection, Jerry Torstensson providing drums and Olof Gothlin (who featured on 'A Rose For The Apocalypse') contributing violin.

So, is this shaping up to be nothing more than a clone band and a glorified tribute album? On balance, and despite the undeniably strong influences: no, not really. It's a rather more stately and subdued affair than any of the Swedish band's offerings - even the mellowest 'Where Lovers Mourn' - without either the aggressive edge or the soaring peaks. A more autumnal approach, if you like: definitely from the same stable, but not aiming for the same classic, wintry ferocity.

It isn't without merits of its own, at any rate. The band have pedigree, with three of them being ex-members of the similarly-Gothic Auto-Da-Fe. They know how to handle their instruments: the intertwined guitar riffs swap pleasing melodies and textures with the keyboard and violin. The drums are, not unexpectedly, full of depth and vigour, and even the bass gets a fairly frequent look-in to proceedings. The vocals, entirely in Russian, trade off in pleasant beauty-and-the-beast fashion, or slide into background chorus and spoken-word pieces, with a seamless alacrity. There is, at times, something elusive missing here, though: it sounds as if the female vocal parts were written for a slightly different voice (and perhaps they were, given that the band originally had both a female singer and a drummer of their own), one that more completely matched the mood and pace of the music. They're not bad, but there are moments when they just don't feel like a perfect fit, particularly during parts of 'Прощай' and 'Жди'.

Where the formula does work really well, mainly during the latter half of the album (particularly 'Мой Вечный Дождь', 'Элегия Безмятежности' and 'На Сцене Осень'), it produces a slightly mournful cascade of melodies and symphonic elements, anchored on low, tuneful rasps rather than outright growls, which ebb and flow in quite captivating fashion. Where it doesn't, the results are still technically adept but a little lacking in variation or character, reminiscent of a somewhat stifled version of Frailty. On balance, it's probably on BadMoodMan because it's borderline primarily Melodic, rather than Death, Doom.

Overall, it's a difficult one to judge. Personally, I like it, despite those odd weaker moments, enough to have bought a copy. It seems quite genuine, makes an effort to distance itself somewhat from the archetypal blueprint and, in doing so, achieves some eminently listenable results. At the same time, though, it couldn't be described as either utterly groundbreaking, or truly, consistently, great. A promising start, though: with a net 'recommended' rather than 'essential'.

Author: Mike Liassides

Review
Lords of Metal
7.8/10

Vraag ons niet wat de titel betekent, want het was al een hele opgave om ergens een juiste schrijfwijze in ons alfabet te vinden. U raadt het al: dit is weer één van die bands uit Rusland die enkel cyrillisch schrift op hun albums plaatsen. Deze heren en dame komen uit Yaroslavl en bestaan sinds 2009. Pervaja Sleza Oseni is hun eerste teken van leven, want ze hebben nooit demos gemaakt.

Het betreft hier doom/gothic metal van een behoorlijke kwaliteit met fraaie melodielijnen en vloeiende structuren. Niets dat uitzonderlijk is, want de schone en het beest vinden we terug in de vorm van zware mannelijke grunts en engelachtige vrouwelijke vocalen die sereen en ongenaakbaar zijn. De band bestaat uit een zanger en een zangeres, twee gitaristen, bassist en toetsenman. Voor de drums huurde men een sessiemuzikant in en er is ook nog een gastbijdrage van een violist. Toch is dit een album dat ook westerse oortjes mogelijk kan bekoren. Met name Draconian fans zullen er bepaalde kenmerken in herkennen. Gesproken fragmenten in het Russisch klinken plechtig en exotisch. Het doet me een beetje denken aan het Poolse Hefeystos, een band waar ik in de jaren negentig heel even wel hoog mee opliep. Ook het vermelden waard is dat het album in hun thuisstad opgenomen is, maar een prima mix kreeg in Zweden. Wie niet maalt om een originele insteek, kan best genieten van deze zeer melodieuze doom/gothic metal plaat, waar de keyboards trouwens altijd een zweverig tintje toevoegen.

Author: Vera