Maze Of Feelings - Maze Of Feelings (CD)

melodic death doom metal, BadMoodMan Music, BadMoodMan Music
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Maze Of Feelings – необычная группа из Польши, где сразу два вокалиста, оба из России, и оба уже успевшие стать знаковыми для российской тёмной тяжёлой сцены. Андрей Карпухин (Mare Infinitum, Abstract Spirit, Comatose Vigil) и Иван Гуськов (Mare Infinitum) отвечают за разнообразие голосов, простирающихся от скрима и гроула, до нарратива и эпического чистого вокала, насыщающих музыку, представляющую собой неразрывную связь doom death metal и dark metal. Также в группе участвует один из лучших барабанщиков от метала Dariusz "Daray" Brzozowski (Dimmu Borgir, Vesania, ex-Vader). Жёсткие, хлёсткие композиции этого дебютного альбома Maze Of Feelings, при кажущейся прямолинейности, сразу же раскроются при прослушивании множеством передаваемых эмоций.

Треклист:
1 Drained Souls Asylum
2 Adherents Of Refined Severity
3 Where Orphaned Daughters Cry
4 Necrorealistic
5 Grey Waters Of Indifference
6 Cold Sun Of Borrowed Tomorrow
7 Dreamcatcher

Артист:
Maze Of Feelings
Страна артиста:
Poland
Год альбома:
2018
Название:
Maze Of Feelings
Стиль:
melodic death doom metal
Формат:
Compact Disk
Тип:
CD
Упаковка:
Jewel Case
Лейбл:
BadMoodMan Music
Кат. номер:
BMM. 082-18
Год издания:
2018
Штрих-код:
4627080611290
Страна-производитель:
Russia
Review
Doom-metal.com
5/10
25.04.2019

'Maze Of Feelings' is the 2018 debut of the Polish band of the same name. All I knew about this band prior to reviewing the album was that I was to expect a Death/Doom release, which I can confirm is indeed the case.

The first term that came to mind after listening to this album was 'naive', which was used purely in relation to the song structure. Basically, most of the songs had sounded rushed. I couldn't really fault the production nor the technical skills of the band but there simply weren't any songs that I felt I enjoyed. Admittedly, I do prefer Death/Doom to crawl more than it sprints but I don't think that's the problem here. To me, the music is as if the band has prepared to play it live rather than for an album. If I were to watch Maze Of Feelings perform this album live, chances are good that I'd probably enjoy it. For example, there would be plenty of good solos, build-ups, and harsh vocals to boot. Other than beer, what else would you need for a good gig but the aforementioned? For an album however, I don't think there's enough on this release to keep a fan of Death/Doom appeased.

'Grey Waters Of Indifference' could be an exception to the rule, mind you. That track didn't feel rushed at all. Personally, I think a band playing Doom Metal nowadays has to understand the importance of patience and atmosphere, two things that are closely entwined. Only on 'Grey Waters Of Indifference' did I find those two elements on 'Maze Of Feelings', which is why I ended up feeling like the album was rushed. It's a shame, really, because Maze Of Feelings hasn't done much wrong on this release. With a bit more focus on their song structures, I think this band could easily make a name for itself in Doom Metal. Without doing so, however, I fear they may drift into anonymity like so many before them.

The album artwork has a decent layout albeit completed with the traditional indecipherable font for lyrics. I have no idea why so many bands do this nowadays. Then again, it's been some years since I paid any mind to purported 'Metal etiquette' so perhaps it's just me showing my age. It seems that even on the artwork side of things, the band seems to be so near and yet so far away from producing a really good release!

Personally, I think the band needs to establish more of a focus when it comes to moving forward. The fact that they utilise harsh male vocals in conjunction with clean male vocals and clean female vocals tells you that this band does not know which direction it wants to go in because all three of those elements bring something different to songs, as you all know. There are faint traces of Gothic Metal in this music as well as - dare I say it? - Nu-Metal, although the dominant genre/sub-genre is Death/Doom. There's even a very faint nod toward Austria's Dargaard toward the end of 'Cold Sun Of Borrowed Tomorrow'. As I said earlier, the song structure on this release is a bit too naive for my liking, and I imagine it'd be the same for most fans of the sub-genre. It's hard to deny the potential of the band but like with most debut releases across the globe, more work is needed. Special points are awarded to the band for creating some kind of bizarrely unholy unity between Polish and Russian people, though!

Author: Ian Morrissey
Review
The Pit of the Damned
7/10
22.10.2018

In spite of its off-putting Emo name that seems to dilute the vengeance inflicted by a Morbid Angel track, Maze of Feelings does display a solid mid-paced doom/death metal style that kicks around its grooving riffs with a balance of accessible and underground elements. Though the maze itself is mainly a series of dead depressive ends, the band is able to distill its melancholy in myriad ways including tears of tremolos that are gracefully laid into a breaking section in “Where Orphaned Daughters Cry”, a nasty riff harpooning “Necrorealistic” into one's brain and dragging him through a beatdown reminiscent of early Paradise Lost rhythms, and a cold remorseless run in “Adherents of Refined Severity” that chases you through this disorienting labyrinth in the hope of finally striking you down with its razor sharp axe.

With two distinct vocalists cleanly singing, screaming, whispering, speaking, and growling throughout the album, the instrumental range compliments the spread with nods to Paradise Lost and Lacuna Coil, thundering bass across the spectrum of sound in some instances and methodically dragging melodies from dungeons into the sun at other times. In doom metal fashion, an anvil cymbal steadily strikes behind bellows of double bass tightening the treble's fetters and keeping it from escaping the weight below. A very Tool sounding riff to the closing track, “Dreamcatcher”, opens a song that accentuates the more gothic lilt to the doom sound that Maze of Feelings captures. While the band may bridge on some melodic death metal aesthetic in its vocals and some of its denser guitar moments, the majority of this album sticks closely to its doom template, experimenting with some gothic theater, and reigning in its pace from the first chugging riffing in “Drained Souls Asylum” to find its footing deeper in depression than screaming for vengeance.

As long drawn out melodies fight with a freight train of growling in “Cold Sun of Borrowed Tomorrow”, grappling with the high vocals and pulled to punishment by a laborious pacing, the downtrodden trope of a riff that opens “Grey Waters of Indifference” conjures memories of when this sort of sound was new and cool rather than common and overdone in many imitations. Still, Maze of Feelings is able to take the standard style and find success, but without the energy and power of some of the bands with which it shares its space.

'Maze of Feelings' is not without its faults and nadirs. While the crying sample at the end of “When Orphaned Daughters Cry” could have simply been left out of that quality piece, the band seems to have stuck more to the doom designation and accentuated it with different aesthetics rather than explored the conventions that could achieve the full potential of the band's ideas. Songs like “Necrorealistic”, “Dreamcatcher”, and “Drained Souls Asylum” start off with distinction just to end up running into the same dead ends, something expected when caught in a maze as sunlight fades, yet the gothic and more aggressive movements show that there's more to this band than simply playing the doom metal trope of taking a good start and constantly cornering it. The mid-paced structuring that uses its sure footing to find places to gallop and smoothly exaggerate is a strong starting template and Maze of Feelings would do well to take that template farther as the band goes along in order to better appreciate the instrumental talent lending itself to the theater at the forefront.

Maze of Feelings is a band that seems to revel in its familiarity and is set to inch its way towards making its own mark. Moments throughout this album show small points of individual personality, the instrumentation naturally rides its reveries as well as accentuates the theater in the vocals, but the band still has yet to truly come into its own. Here's hoping that these talented musicians can find an energy that compliments the ability gathered in this quintet.

Author: Five_Nails
Review
Power Metal.de
8/10
02.09.2018

Doom und Death die x-te - aber wieder mal eine sehr gute!

Dieses polnische Ensemble hat seine musikalische Mitte noch nicht gefunden, was im Falle des gleichnamigen Debüts auch gar kein allzu großes Problem ist. Die Art und Weise, mit der MAZE OF FEELINGS nämlich mit den düsteren Emotionen spielt und sich dabei zwischen melodischem Death Metal und epischem Doom bewegt, hat etwas Faszinierendes an sich - und dabei ist die eigentliche Marschrichtung der 2014 gegründeten Combo eigentlich eine altbekannte.

Interessant ist jedoch, wie die Osteuropäer die Genres verbinden bzw. welch teils unkonventionellen Weg die Band hierbei einschlägt. Tatsächlich ist von PARADISE LOST- und GODGORY-Einflüssen bis hin zu traditionellem Power Metal und selbst alternativen Rocksound alles vertreten, was die Palette hergibt. Und trotzdem muss sich die Band zu keiner Zeit Sorgen machen, dass sich der Anker löst und man plötzlich orientierungslos im Meer der Melodien verloren geht. Die tollen Chöre sind dabei ein entscheidendes Bindeglied, suchen sich manchmal ihren Weg durch das Gothic-Genre, haben hier und dort selbst ein paar folkige Momente, können aber eben auch monumentalen Doom und hypnotischen, geradezu beschwörerischen Death Metal. Dass die Band auch mit weiblichem Gesang arbeitet, erweitert das Repertoire noch einmal nachhaltig und gibt der Platte auf diesem Gebiet den letzten Schliff.

Eben jenen hat "Maze Of Feelings" musikalisch zwar noch nicht in allen Sequenzen, doch mit Wagemut, außergewöhnlichen Arrangements und einer überraschend souveränen Darbietung kann man auch die minimalen Längen in einem Song wie 'Adherence Of Refined Severity" problemlos überbrücken. "Maze Of Torments" ist ein starkes Debüt einer vielversprechenden, jungen Combo - und ein extrem vielschichtiges dazu. Vor allem Liebhaber von epischem, melodischen Doom/Death sollten sich kundig machen, welcher Mailorder das Teil im Sortiment hat und den Einkaufswagen zügig füllen!

Anspieltipps: Grey Waters Of Indifference, Cold Sun Of Borrowed Tomorrow

Author: Björn Backes
Review
Necromance
9/10
24.03.2018

Hoy en Necromance os traemos el último trabajo de MAZE OF FEELINGS titulado “Where Orphaned Daughters Cry” de la mano de BadMoonMan Music.

Esta banda polaca se caracteriza por hace metal melódico, death y sobre todo doom, algo que matizaremos con el paso de los temas. Está compuesta por Andrey Karpukhin a la voz, Ivan Guskov también a las voces, pero melódicas, Jakub Wieczerzycki a la batería, Szymon Grodzki al bajo, Krzysztof a la guitarra y Marcin Warznski a la guitarra solista.

Este trabajo comienza con “Drained Souls Asylum” que nos sorprende muy gratamente. Aunque ellos se describen como muy extremos y sobre todo doom, lo que oímos no se asemeja con las descripciones. Y es que hacen un metal melódico de una calidad increíble, que posee tanto voces guturadas como voces melódicas, gracias a sus dos cantantes de un nivel muy alto.

Si hablamos de la calidad musical, que ya nos sorprendían en el anterior tema, según avanza el trabajo, más nos apasiona. Y es que las guitarras suenan como un cañón, además de estar muy bien definidas con todos esos riffs tan pesados. “Adherents of Refine” es un ejemplo claro de cómo batería, bajo y guitarras se unen en un mismo ser y trabajan juntas para sacar adelante un tema brutal. Comienza muy percusivo, pero el paso al estribillo es abrumador, debido a la potencia y desgarra que muestran.

“Where Orphaned Daughters Cry” es el tema que le pone nombre a este disco. Comienza de manera muy lenta, con guitarras limpias, con chorus y baterías de lo más relajadas, pero que van ganando intensidad con el paso de los minutos hasta pasar a hacer el metal tan característico que hacen estos chicos. De grandísima calidad la expresividad que poseen estos chicos de Polonia, llega a erizarnos el pelo.

Comenzamos a ver toques Doom en “Necrorealistic”, donde guitarras no tan distorsionadas, pero si con riffs pesados aparecen para dejarnos abrumados. Es de destacar que en este tema aparecen solos de guitarra de muy alto nivel melódico. De nuevo, nos presentamos ante un tema con muchos altibajos, pasando de limpios casi acústicos a las distorsiones más brutas, pero siempre con ese toque melódico tan bueno que tienen estos músicos.

“Grey Waters of Indifference” nos recuerda a BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, y es que tiene ese toque en la voz que tanto se parece al cantante de la banda anteriormente mencionada. No obstante, seguimos impresionados con el nivel compositivo y musical de MAZE OF FEELINGS, no bajan el nivel de sus temas en todo el álbum.

Los licks de guitarra son de una grandísima calidad durante todo el disco, pero nos sorprenden en “Cold sun borrowed tomorrow”, que junto a un riff muy pesado y percusivo, nos muestran su mayor lado doom, recordándonos a veces a los GHOST más antiguos. Muy curioso la voz de la chica en este tema.

Por último, nos topamos con “Dreamcatcher” un tema algo particular dentro del álbum. Y es que comienza con sonidos muy ambientales, y una voz susurrando, como si sufriese, para terminar en unas guitarras distorsionadas, llenas de ganancia dando brutalidad como llevan todo el disco. Una gran manera de terminar el trabajo.

Este álbum nos ha sorprendido gratamente debido a la gran calidad compositiva y musical por parte de estos músicos polacos. Estamos seguros de que van a llegar lejísimos si siguen así, puesto que su nivel sobrepasa muchos límites.

Author: Alvaro Castilla Medina
Review
Hellfire
07.03.2018

MAZE OF FEELIINGS sind eine Band aus Polen, und mit dem selbst betitelten Album erreicht uns heuer ihr Debütalbum. Die noch recht junge Band hat ebenso noch recht junge Mitglieder. Dennoch wirkt das Album relativ erwachsen. Doch wissen sie wohl noch nicht was sie wirklich wollen.

Das Album bietet einen melodischen Mix aus Death und Gothic Metal, mit Ansätzen von Doom und klassischen Heavy Metal. Der Beginn mit DRAINED SOULS ASYLUM kommt sehr Death-lastig daher und schwenkt immer mal wieder in die Gothic Metal Abteilung um. Dabei wechseln sich die beiden russischen Vokalisten mit dem Gesang regelmäßig ab. Der eine growlt in tiefsten Tönen, der andere schreit, singt klar oder flüstert. Wer die Sängerin in den Songs ist bleibt leider unklar. Jedenfalls erinnert mich der erste Song immer wieder an die deutsche Band ‘Darkseed’.

Der zweite Song fährt noch im gleichen Fahrwasser, hier kommen aber schon vermehrt Doom Elemente zum Vorschein. WHERE ORPHANED DAUGHTERS CRY ist ein beinahe epischer Doom Song, melodisch und nur teilweise im Death Metal verortet. NECROREALISTIC geht wieder mehr in die Richtung Death / Gothic Metal, immer schön Gemach mit dem Tempo. Ebenso beginnt GREY WATERS OF INDIFFERENCE. Gothic Metal aus Deutschland mag man meinen. Dann zieht das Tempo an, Death Metal hält kurz Einzug bevor es dann wieder Richtung Gothic a la ‘Theatre Of Tragedy’ geht. Mit klarem Frauengesang und wechselnden Männerstimmen.

COLD SUN OF BORROWED TOMORROW ist ein echter Death Doom Song. Schön langsam schleppt sich der Song voran, die tiefen Growls ergänzen sich, dazu ein paar klare Vocals. Trauer macht sich breit. Und dann als kleiner Lichtblick erneut die schöne weibliche Stimme. Ein feiner Song, der beste Song. DREAMCATCHER bringt noch mal ein wenig experimentelles ein. Progressive Sounds mischen sich mit schleppenden Doom Riffs. Dazu aggressive Growls und ein sich langsam im Tempo steigernder Rhythmus um gegen Ende wieder langsam auszuklingen.

Was will uns die Band damit sagen? Die Antwort bringen MAZE OF FEELINGS selbst: “Das Album bringt 7 Tracks mit unterschiedlichen Emotionen. Jedes Lied ist eine andere Geschichte, aber alle schaffen eine Art Reise durch das ‘Labyrinth der Gefühle’.” Nun, gefühlstechnisch rührt sich bei mir noch nicht allzu viel, doch wenn die Band sich mal auf einen Stil festlegen kann, dann klappt hoffentlich auch das. Immerhin kann das CD-Cover überzeugen.
Review
Iye Zine
7.5/10
17.03.2018

I polacchi Maze Of Feelings per proporre il loro ottimo death doom hanno pescato due vocalist dalla scena russa nelle persone di Andrey Karpukhin (Abstract Spirit, Comatose Vigil) e Ivan Guskov (Mare Infinitum).

In effetti l’interpretazione del genere in questo caso è piuttosto variegata, grazie anche all’uso della doppia voce, improntata per lo più sul profondo growl di Karpukhin e sulla stentorea tonalità clean di Guskov, che conferisce ulteriore dinamica ad un sound oscillante tra passaggi molto più robusti come l’ottima opener Drained Souls Asylum, ed altri maggiormente in linea con il death doom melodico come Where Orphaned Daughters Cry, o Cold Sun Of Borrowed Tomorrow e Grey Waters Of Indifference, nelle quali appare anche una voce femminile.
La band, guidata dai due chitarristi Marcin Warzyński e Krzysztof Wieczerzycki, dimostra comunque diverse pulsioni progressive il che apporta più di una variazione ai canonici temi del genere, senza che il lavoro ne risenta dal punto di vista dell’omogeneità; va detto che invece un minimo scostamento avviene in termini di qualità distribuita lungo l’album, visto che le prime tre tracce sono davvero molto belle ed appaiono sensibilmente superiori al resto della tracklist, che rimane attestata sempre su un buon livello medio ma senza colpire più di tanto, salvo la conclusiva Dreamcatcher, nella quale si ritorna ad atmosfere più aspre e nel contempo lentamente cadenzate.
Nel complesso questo primo passo targato Maze Of Feelings si può considerare decisamente riuscito, in virtù di una resa sonora invidiabile e di una serie di canzoni complessivamente valide, collocando la band polacco/russa in una fascia di gradimento in grado di attrarre sia chi apprezza il doom sia gli appassionati di death melodico.

Author: STEFANO CAVANNA
Review
Metal Temple
8/10
09.04.2018

Polish sextet MAZE OF FEELINGS formed in 2014 in Poland, though both singers are from Russia. The band was interested in making Metal music without borders, and the seven-track debut album here is centered around the expression of various emotions. Loosely described as an amalgam of Doom and Death, let’s get to the songs to hear for ourselves.

“Drained Souls Asylum” opens with a fairly linear riff that is a bit melancholy. The vocals come in deep and guttural and the music forms a dynamic bond with them. Some of the progressions remind me of the artist IHSAHN. Clean vocals fill the chorus with some twin guitar harmonies. The sound drops a bit near the halfway mark into an instrumental passage that builds some nice layering. For me, the music evokes a sense of loss combined with anger. “Adherence of Refined Severity” has an ominous sound as the chords drop heavily onto the earth below. There is again a combination of both harrowing Death vocals and cleans. Emotionally, I hear some resolve in this song.

“Where Orphaned Daughters Cry” is a dirge that opens with spoken word and clean guitar notes that turn even more mournful with electric guitars and lamenting clean vocals. A sense of cruelty and unscrupulous practices welts up inside you in a gut-wrenching howl. The Death vocals taunt, reminding you that you might not be in charge of your own fate. Sobs from a female voice take the track to completion. “Necrorealistic” has a SABBATH-esque riff that is served well coupled with both clean and Death vocals working in unison at times. The riff is charged, aggressive and bossy. Softer and more ambient passages are intertwined, making the weight of the heavy riff enough to move the listener on a physical level.

“Grey Waters of Indifference” features a gloomy landscape with long held clean vocal notes that are cut with brutal Death metal vocals that come from far under the earth. It clodhops at a lethargic pace but transforms just before the half-way mark with an atmospheric passage complete with female clean vocals. It’s so bleak that it almost moves you to tears. “Cold Sun of Borrowed Tomorrow” extends over eleven minutes. As if the album could not be more depressing, this beast of a song puts the nails in your coffin and seals you six feet under. The varied vocal delivery is something that really adds flavor to the song as well. The piano and whistling winds at the end put down the final stamp…you’re dead. “Dreamcatcher” closes the album. Spoken words lead off the song, whispered and gravely. A steady rhythm ensues, thick with condemnation. When you might have a flicker of hope left, this song douses it. As it closes he utters the words “I wish I could be happy, as now, as before.”

Largely a Doom album for me, it is a bit unusual in that they don’t just rely on the standard elements of the genre to push the hopeless, dejected sound. The varied vocal styles and smattering of Death and even Atmospheric Metal elements really make for a unique sound. A warning though—listening to the entire album at one time might make you feel like the world is closing in around you…which of course is the idea.

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Memorability: 8
Production: 8

Author: Dave “That Metal Guy” Campbell
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