Raventale - Давно Ушедших Дней (Long Passed Days) (CD)

depressive black / black doom, BadMoodMan Music, BadMoodMan Music
466.67 Р
Price in points: 700 points
BMM. 015-08 x
Out of stock
New work from the talented Ukrainian depressive black metal band. This time Raventale demostrate us a transition to black doom side, still preserving their inimitable atmosphere and melodiousness. Combining fury and coldness of black metal with melancholic loneliness of doom metal, in addition with some elements of ambient, the band rises up on a new level of quality. The beautiful lyrics make the new album "Long Passed Days" more attractive for all lovers of the voluptuous side of black metal.

Tracklist:
1 Скрежетом Боли (Ностальгия) 9:13
2 Давно Ушедших Дней 10:51
3 Ввысь Да За Горизонт (Both Like Birds) 3:27
4 Sunset Of The Age 8:25
5 Из Времени Черных Колодцев 7:11
6 Вдаль Уходящий Мой Силуэт 5:21

Artist:
Raventale
Artist Country:
Ukraine
Album Year:
2008
Title:
Давно Ушедших Дней (Long Passed Days)
Genre:
depressive black / black doom
Format:
CD
Type:
CD Album
Package:
Jewel Case
Label:
BadMoodMan Music
Cat Num:
BMM. 015-08
Release Year:
2008
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
Review
Zwaremetalen
8.4/10
02.03.2009

Tijd voor tijdloosheid. Raventale uit Oekraïne stuurt ons hun beste wensen, inclusief hun tweede album Long Passed Days. Een goede zaak dat toch de naam niet in dat vreemde schrift stond, anders hadden we er allemaal het raden naar om welke plaat het ging. Raventale is Astaroth, hij speelt doom en black.

Wat wel meer het geval is bij bands uit Oekraïne (en Rusland) zijn de lang uitgesponnen soundscapes. Herhaling, ondersteuning door stille maar felle keys, epiek en het momentum van de basgitaar laten varen op de tikken van de metronoom. De doom die dat creëert is meermaals een indrukwekkend product. Raventale slaagt er in om dat over te brengen, in een spontane en ongeforceerde manier. Deze beladen methodiek heeft veel weg van het vroegste stadium van Anathema. Dat steekt Raventale ook helemaal niet weg, daar ze het nummer Sunset of The Age van Anathema's The Silent Enigma coveren. Eigenlijk verschilt het niet zoveel van de andere nummers op Long Passed Days. Prima keuze dus, en mooi gebracht. Het geeft ook mooi weer dat er ondanks de melodie veel melancholie in deze plaat zit (check From The Black Wells Of Time op de MySpace).

Er zit ook een black aspect aan. De grunt/scream is bedroevend zwart en distorted, zeker naast het gemijmer van het poëtisch woord. En er zitten snellere stukken in, de percussie heeft de drang naar altijd iets meer viriliteit, als een gecontroleerde agressie. Een passief-agressieve plaat dus, die er best mag zijn. Bravo.

Author: Bart Alfvoet
Review
Quintessence
4/6

Raventale is a one man Doom Metal band from the Ukraine. Solitude Productions’ sub-label BadMoodMan Music has just taken the liberty of releasing the second and newest album, “Long Passed Days”.

The main portion of Raventale consists of atmospheric Doom Metal, although the distorted vocals may also hint towards Blackened Doom. Musically though, that comparison only counts for ‘From Time Of Black Wells’ which is somewhat like Forgotten Tomb on “Negative Megalomania” and some mid-era Katatonia albums. Otherwise the basics of Raventale are pretty similar to the old Anathema style, and it’s both not surprising as well as impressive that the Anathema cover ‘Sunset Of The Age’ blends in well with the other material. The Ambient sounds make up for a thick suffocating cloud of atmosphere with the repetitive guitars residing underneath. So certainly the album does a lot right in terms of atmosphere, though I personally value a little less repetition of one and the same riff. Having said that, “Long Passed Days” is a still an album that’s bound to please numerous fans, although one has to wonder to what extent it manages to stand out in a fairly saturated sub-genre. If you ask me, it’s good but far from mandatory.

Author: Vincent
Review
The Metal Observer
8.5/10
27.03.2009

Sometimes while listening to music I am wondering how it is possible that certain groups become extremely popular while others, not lacking in musical workshop nor interesting ideas, remain in the shadow creating their stuff for a relatively small circle of recipients. The Ukrainian one-man band RAVENTALE seems to be a good illustration for these words. Two years would pass before the second work from this talented ensemble called “Davno Ushedshikh Dney” could be published and perhaps this time their music will reach a wider audience.

In comparison to RAVENTALE’s debut only certain slight changes have been introduced. The majority of this material is recorded still in the vein of “Na Chrustalnych Kaczeniach” including sounds of nature, dirty and at the same time massive guitar riffs, sluggish pace and the keyboards, which superbly accentuate the longing and sorrowful soul of Astaroth’s music. On the other hand it feels as if his vocals were somewhat altered, being now more strident and venomous. Another change is to be noticed as the second track kicks off. Its clearly rapider tempo has some associations with Black Metal bands incorporating Goth aesthetics like CRADLE OF FILTH for instance. After a few whiles, though, the things are back on the “usual” RAVENTALE course, which takes us on a down-tempo journey through the never-ending landscapes of nature and human loneliness.

The Ukrainian’s music has already before been compared to what KATATONIA have achieved within melodic Doom Metal, but only the second to last song really gives grounds to such judgments. In fact the initial melodies of this track are as if fashioned directly by the Swedish band (perhaps excluding the hoarse singing). Another famous band that in a way is involved in “Davno Ushedshikh Dney” is the English ANATHEMA, though, in this case it is only for the reason of Astaroth placing their cover on the track-list. A fan of this group would surely notice it but otherwise “Sunset Of The Age” seems to be just another good RAVENTALE effort.

The result of the production process is definitely satisfying as the one in charge of it managed to balance most properly the heavily distorted guitars and the keyboard section. The latter are nearly omnipresent, yet never tend to be too insistent making the music tacky. Another interesting thing is that while RAVENTALE play Doom you will probably almost never pay attention to the drum department as the great cooperation of the filthy six-stringers with the spatial synths simply put it in the shade. At the same time it is worth noticing that none of the instruments is inaudible, though obviously this is not what a maniac of sound selectiveness would expect.

The Ukrainian group have released another solid CD and proved that their music is worth attention not only from devoted fans of Doom Metal but generally from listeners who appreciate melancholic sound and mood of highest quality.

Author: Sebastian
Review
Metalrage
9.6/10
13.04.2009

It’s very hard to decipher some information in the booklet of this disc, because everything is written in the Russian language. Raventale is a one-man project though, with one very talented multi-instrument musician that plays drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and sampling. He delivers us an absolute masterpiece of bleak, dark and misanthropic doom/black-metal. This is seriously one of the best doom/black releases I heard in a while. His use of atmospheric, dark keyboard intros and very subtle placed samples of wind, rain or shrieking crows, works perfectly with the bleak doom/black-metal. Musically there are reverences of bands like My Dying Bride, but also of bands like Wolves In The Throne Room. I think this band is best to describe as a doom version of Wolves In The Throne Room.

There are too many highlights on this disc, but I have to tell you some. For instance the title-song called ‘Long Passed Days’ that lasts for 11 minutes, is a brilliantly build up epic story that takes you away to desolated landscapes with dark, cold forests. Or the instrumental song ‘Up For Horizon (Both Like Birds)’ with the brilliant use of shrieking crow samples. Or the song called ‘Sunset Of The Age’ which is an Anathema cover that has a blistering, long bleak guitar-solo in it that lasts for 3 minutes. Goosebumps all over!

Everything is perfectly balanced on this disc; I really can’t find one bad song or thing on this album. From the crystal clear sound, from the song structures, from the atmosphere he creates, from his voice that he uses in different ways and even from the simple but effective lay-out of this album. I fucking love Raventale!

Author: RoyBalowski
Review
Live4metal

Fucking hellski. For those of you not as exposed as I have been to Russian doom of late, the iron curtain may well be down, but the misery remains. Bad Mood Man music is the subsidiary label of the Slavic misery-mongers Solitude Productions, usually reserved for those bands that might have one toe in the pool of doom, but otherwise defy the genre conventions. Now, when your kindly Uncle Steve sent me the description of Raventale as “blackened doom”, it is fair to say that my interest was peaked. Turns out I had no idea just how engrossing this album is.
Firstly, the biographical bits. Raventale are a Ukrainian outfit – though to be strictly
correct, this is actually entirely the work of one man – the wonderfully monikered “Astaroth”. I can only assume that he isn't the immense axe-wielding bastard from the Soul Calibur series of games, though of course one can never be too sure with the general air of mystery that pervades such solo-offerings. It would appear that Raventale did indeed used to be some kind of black metal outfit, and indeed some of those trappings still appear on this album. There are rasping, hoarse vocals and a general concentration on atmosphere, but really, that's where the black metal influence seems to end. That's ok for me, because the forest-skulking panda-faces are generally as appealing to me as being impaled on a nail ridden spike. This also isn't doom, exactly, though the pace is somewhat leaden throughout, and the general mood is fucking miserable.
Thick, weaving riffs run throughout, while tasteful and sublime keyboard and electronic soundscapes conjure audio pictures in the mind. This is a journey into the far reaches of the subconscious. These are epic compositions, constructing vast vistas of sound through combinations of simple, woven guitars. Coming at you somewhere between Katatonia circa “Brave Murder Day”, Anathema at their most progressive and the epic bombast of Ereb Altor, this is some seriously engaging stuff. At a mere six songs, you'll be left hungering for more, but then this could well be the stepping stone to bigger and better things. Also, kudos to any band that dares to cover a track as mammoth as “Sunset of the Age” and actually improve on the original – a track that is one of my favourites on “The Silent Enigma”. This album may not be silent, but it certainly is enigmatic. A quiet magic lies on this shiny disc.

Author: Chris Davison
Review
Metalcrypt
4.25/5
05.06.2009

I wasn't expecting much from this, but sometimes the guys at Solitude Productions hit gold. Raventale is a one-man band from the Ukraine playing an expansive, orchestral stripe of Blackened Doom metal. I was expecting something more depressive, like Xasthur or Shining, but instead this is a powerful and melodically haunting album.

The guitars on here are definitely Black Metal influenced, with a sharp, up-tuned sound and full chords rather than drop-D chunking. This is still very heavy, and the riffs are huge and oceanic, with a tremendous amount of build and atmosphere. The vocals are an unintelligible croak, but are very sparse, going for long passages without any vocals at all. Mostly what holds your interest is the clear and heavy guitar sound and the big, tasty riffs. The proceedings are leavened here and there with some delicate melodic guitar work and orchestral keys, the whole thing never losing the melancholic feel or the atmosphere of dark, fog-shrouded vistas of forested hills and frost-peaked mountains. Even the Anathema cover is done in such a way that it blends seamlessly into the sound of the rest of the album. If I have to level a criticism at this disc, it's that too much of it sounds very similar, and in places it's like just one long song. So there's not a huge amount of variation here, but there is a fuckload of atmosphere and crushing heaviness. Not a brilliant album, but close to it. A band that will bear watching in the future, as this is excellent work.

Author: Sargon the Terrible
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