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Shallow Rivers - The Leaden Ghost (CD)

dark death doom metal, BadMoodMan Music, BadMoodMan Music
List price: 533.33 Р
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BMM. 072-15 x
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The second full-length album by Shallow Rivers follows the stylistics of the debut album "Nihil Euphoria" demonstrating enhanced technical and compositional abilities of musicians. Extreme and harsh, but atmospheric and melodic music is based on different styles with prevailing doom death metal resulting in sudden transitions from low to up tempo and vice versa. The album requires a thoughtful listening with leafing through the booklet. You can return to it again and again as to a good book, because it has Henry Longfellow"s "The Wreck of the Hesperus" as a basis of concept. Musicians discover the theme of obsession of poets, writers, artists and creative people in general. The concept is based on the idea that their talent is driven by a kind of "innocent insanity." It gives them inspiration, but eventually turns them into madmen. The lead ghost is an obsession, a nagging sense of foreboding. Attempts to understand it end up with madness.

Tracklist:
1 Of Silent Winds That Whistle Death 12:08
2 Light Upon Us, Haze Around Us 15:59
3 Scorched, Wrecked, Torn, Then Crumbled To The Sea 7:13
4 We Are Cold 4:19
5 Snow 5:16
6 The Leaden Ghost 12:18

Artist:
Shallow Rivers
Artist Country:
Russia
Album Year:
2015
Title:
The Leaden Ghost
Genre:
dark death doom metal
Format:
CD
Type:
CD Album
Package:
Jewel Case
Label:
BadMoodMan Music
Cat Num:
BMM. 072-15
Release Year:
2015
Barcode:
4627080610743
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
Review
Atmosfear Magazine №15
7/10

Новый альбом от россиян SHALLOW RIVERS практически выдержан в стилистике дебютного альбома "Nihil Euphoria" (2013). На протяжении 50-ти минут вас ждёт всё тот же атмосферный doom/death metal, которым нас радовали москвичи ещё на прошлой работе. "Музыканты затрагивают тему одержимости поэтов, писателей, художников и творческих людей вообще. Концепция построена на идее о том, что их талантом движет некое "невинное помешательство". Оно позволяет им творить, но со временем превращает в безумцев. “Свинцовый призрак” - это навязчивая идея, дурное предчувствие, не дающее покоя. Попытки его понять и разгадать заканчиваются сумасшествием" - гласит пресс-релиз. Что ж, весьма интересная тема для альбома, не так ли? Она же подкреплена иллюстрациями к диску. Весьма интересный релиз в данном стиле, тем более что кроме стандартной версии в “стекле” также доступен и Digipack, количество, правда, которого строго ограничено.

Author: CS
Review
Ave Noctum
7/10
04.03.2015

It’s cold out there. Everything about this second album and follow up to the impressive “Nihil Euphoria” (2013) from Russia’s Shallow Rivers suggests frost, hopelessness and unmitigated melancholy. So it is with the ominously titled “Of silent winds that whistle death”. The downtrodden death metal has a mechanical edge. Rising out of the gloom and the merciless growls are lofty patterns. It’s an impressive blend, enhanced by the spoken word, which put The Prophecy in mind.

“The Leaden Ghost” amounts to six hefty slabs. Throughout the album there’s always a sense of rising majesty yet it’s all cloaked in frozen torpor, expanding with drum triggers and a lush and expressive guitar sound and then slowing to present a symphonically miserable scene. “Light upon us, haze around us” exudes a multitude of patterns, working its way through funereal doom to triggers and even lofty choral tones. I didn’t sense much light or haze. “Scorched, wretched, torn, then crumbled to the sea” fits the bill better as a story is told of a ship heading towards its fate amid chaos and scornful laughter from on high. It is relentless, and to be honest, as a listening experience, it’s grim and grimmer. “We are cold” doesn’t have so many words, but imposes itself with its modern black metal style progression, which drives us forward melodically and persistently in an aura of bleak hopelessness. “Snow” has the underlying tone of quietly whispering death in another bleak but instrumentally varied and atmospheric soundscape. Mid way through it takes itself off into a land of pure death metal. All that remains is the title track which marches off in determined and deathly fashion into a scene of endless suffering. It’s a typically harsh, long drawn out affair but with majesty, melancholy, loftiness and purpose.

Grim and cold are the best words I can use to describe this deathliest of albums. The overall atmosphere is the same but the progressive style of movement and instrumental layers provide the interest and challenge. In “The Leaden Ghost”, Shallow Rivers deliver a dark and intense album.

Author: Andrew Doherty
Review
Forgotten Path
6/10

I have to admit that “Solitude Productions” and their sub-labels release so much music that it is sometimes difficult to remember all their bands and what they play. That is why Shallow Rivers is somewhat unheard for me, as I can’t remember their debut CD. Evidently, it is an ordinary name with no outstanding music. For real, the second album from this Moscow duet verifies my doubts.
“The Leaden Ghost” is characterized as atmospheric Death/Doom and it is quite true. In some places the music is quite experimental, but overall the album is based on the standard frames of the genre. Everything is under the influence of Death Metal; there is growling vocals and the mood varies from fierce to sad and melancholic. It’s the keyboard parts and the background that they’re creating, which is the reason why this CD is attributed to Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal. But we should notice that this album isn’t somehow outstanding. I am surprised that these parts of the songs are scarce and the general creative picture is quite poor. I can’t say that the album charms. Inversely, the release is too dim to induce a bigger liking. Though the guitar parts and the general album mood catch a vibe from time to time, but overall, the album is strongly average and maybe even worse in many aspects. While waiting for the third release, they have a lot of space for improving and doing something really significant because “The Leaden Ghost”, taking into account many angles of Shallow Rivers, even the debut CD “Nihil Euphoria”, seems strongly featureless.

Author: Odium
Review
Chronicles of Chaos
8.5/10
03.03.2015

What's that?! A totally different Shallow Rivers meet the listener with _The Leaden Ghost_, so different from the band that had performed on their previous and impressive _Nihil Euphoria_ that you would find it extremely hard to even register the fact this is indeed the very same band; when we say this album sees a totally different band, we mean -totally- different.
Shallow Rivers are a couple of guys from Revelations of Rain, and the question that immediately pops up is why can't Revelations of Rain write and play such good music? The guys are obviously capable of providing us with some powerful, provocative and thrilling metal -- that's apparent from listening to both debut and sophomore -- so where has this talent been hiding while the musicians played under the Revelations of Rain moniker?

Anyway, forget about the relatively lightweight, user-friendly, semi-gothic, quasi-romantic doom/death the band have created on their _Nihil Euphoria_ debut album; although well written and executed, exhibiting some engaging melodies -- that album is nothing compared to _The Leaden Ghost_ in terms of anger, hatred and heaviness.

So instead of going nowhere, wallowing in their own stylistic prison, Shallow Rivers have decided to evolve and move on, not unlike some of their label-mates who have reinvented themselves in quite extreme a manner (Reido, Septic Mind, Narrow House and The Morningside, to name a few), switching sides, increasing the intensity of their anger, delving deeper into the art of metal, reinventing themselves and eventually -- sounding like an utterly different, new, improved, more bestial an entity than before.

Shallow Rivers now offer us a dark and atmospheric death metal of the slower, tamer kind in terms of velocity, but much increasing their vitriol; the compositions feel like home and the ambiance is heavy on dark emotions and vehemence, with barely a hint of romanticism or gothica still noticed; the album sounds fresh and huge, and instead of being centered around melody -- the quintessential factor of the band's debut album -- this time the recording targets bitter and undying hatred as its main sonic theme.

The riffs are definitely death metal, and so is the power and anger the songs radiate with. The sound is low and thundering, and the song writing is one part traditional and one part adventurous. Some tracks, like the opening "Of Silent Winds that Whistle Death", exhibit a strong old-school approach not unlike what other bands not strictly associated with doom but rather with death metal were performing a decade or two ago, only now Shallow Rivers offer their own interpretation of the style, making it way more interesting and atmospheric than most of the genuine old-schoolers out there.

The vocals of Vladimir Andreev are unreal; they are dark and guttural, with that deep punch exhibited by prodigies such as Septic Flesh, but in this case Mr. Andreev's vocals are surprisingly intelligible; he also experiments with spoken verses as well as with other, softer as well as harsher approaches to utilizing the human vocal chords. They all fit so well together, they become one of this album's quintessential pillars, proving that vocals are a crucial factor where hard-hitting music is concerned, the torch-bearers for the music to follow (so basically, fuck instrumental metal!).

Based on the tragic poem "The Wreck of the Hesperos" by the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, _The Leaden Ghost_ is a massive work both lyrically and musically, incorporating well written, long poetic lyrics (in English) -- some of which are inspiring and epic -- and bitter music that has tragedy written all over its sad frequencies.

_The Leaden Ghost_ takes the listener to the point where the basics of the doom/death style were born, deep in the bowels of slow and atmospheric death metal of old, where melody and brutality reigned in equal measures and where being traditional did not mean, automatically, being boring and faceless. This album has many angles to show you, some to be only revealed in future listening sessions; fine-tuned death/doom that has been brought to the level of being pure art. Buy this album.

Author: Chaim Drishner
Review
Funeral Wedding
5/5

Em atividade a menos de 10 anos os russo do Shallow Rivers lançam seu segundo trabalho álbum, intitulado de “The Leaden Ghost” e o resultado é incrível novamente e de surpreender o ouvinte, uma vez que não faz nem dois anos desde o lançamento do álbum de estreia.

Na primeira audição é fácil perceber que continuam no mesmo ramo do Doom/Death Metal, mas agora dando muito mais ênfase às passagens atmosféricas e uma prova disso são as músicas que ficaram mais longas e densas, pois geralmente músicas com uma duração maior costumam apresentar uma gama maior de andamentos e atmosferas.

O que chama a atenção de cara certamente é a bateria, que está muito bem trabalhada e encaixada com os pedais duplos em trabalho constante. Musicalmente é visível uma evolução natural do grupo o que torna o álbum uma versão melhorada e trabalhada do anterior, “Nihil Euphoria”, podendo apenas cansar os ouvintes que não gostam muito de músicas que ultrapassem os 10 minutos de duração, mas creio que ninguém aqui ligue pra isso.

Excelente álbum para se ouvir com calma e atenção, para verdadeiramente poder apreciar este excelente grupo que mais uma vez nos traz um excelente álbum para este ano.
Review
Metalhead.it
7/10
12.03.2015

Il duo russo Shallow Rivers, qui al secondo album, è dedito a un funeral/death/doom metal che alterna in modo intelligente durezze sonore e aperture melodiche. Fedelmente ai canoni del genere abbiamo in “The leader Ghost”, dalla copertina forse fin troppo minimale, solo sei brani per uno sviluppo che sfiora l’ora. In “Of silent Winds that whistle Death”, di dodici minuti, c’è molto più death che doom (e anzi in alcuni passaggi le ritmiche sconfinano ‘allegramente’ nel black): lo stile vocale di Vladimir Andreev ricorda, a tratti, addirittura David Vincent! Solo la chiusa è raffinatamente gotica. Nella lunghissima “Light upon us, Haze around us”, di 16 minuti esatti, c’è spazio praticamente per tutto: in questo caso la dimensione gothic/doom aumenta, ma è sempre efficacemente contrastata da esplosioni di violenza difficilmente controllabili. “We are cold” è veloce e breve, ma il guitar working è in ogni caso di incredibile pesantezza; anche “Snow” ha più di un momento black, mentre la titletrack, altra tirata di circa dodici minuti, ci mette pure dei passaggi estremamente malinconici. Ho detto decine di volte che aspettarsi delle novità dal doom è del tutto fuori luogo, ma gli Shallow Rivers svolgono bene il proprio compito.

Author: René Urkus
Review
Iye Zine
7.8/10
13.02.2015

“Nihil Euphoria” era stato uno degli album migliori del 2013, almeno secondo il mio particolare metro di giudizio, pertanto mi sono approcciato al nuovo lavoro di russi Shallow Rivers con aspettative piuttosto elevate.

Il duo formato dal chitarrista Yury Ryzhov e dal vocalist Vladimir Andreev non delude affatto in tal senso, anche se The Leaden Ghost è un lavoro sicuramente diverso per umore e stile rispetto al predecessore.
Già il brano d’apertura, Of Silent Winds that Whistle Death, dopo un’introduzione pacata, scarica sull’ascoltatore qualche minuto di death sulla scia dei brani più diretti dei Novembers Doom e solo parzialmente si apre ai ricami chitarristici ai quali il buon Yury ci aveva abituati.
Si arriva alla seconda traccia, Light upon us, Haze around us, e cambia lo scenario, che diventa quello del funeral death doom onirico degli Ea, con la tastiera ben presente nel tessere le trame di un brano splendido, per quanto anch’esso sicuramente anomalo rispetto a quanto esibito nel disco d’esordio.
Scorched, Wrecked, Torn, then Crumbled to the Sea ritorna alle coordinate del brano d’apertura, salvo un break chitarristico centrale decisamente più evocativo, mentre We Are Cold è una traccia breve dai connotati relativamente catchy, sempre tenendo conto del genere musicale offerto: qui Rhyzov lascia finalmente sfogare la propria vena melodica che trova un costante ed efficace contraltare nel growl urticante di Andreev.
Snow amplifica ulteriormente le aperture della canzone precedente, rivelandosi senza dubbio il punto più alto della raccolta grazie al perfetto dosaggio degli ingredienti, con le atmosfere gothic volte a smorzare quel muro di incomunicabilità che, in alcune circostanze, i nostri parevano aver definitivamente eretto.
La conclusiva title track costituisce appunto l’emblema del lavoro, con la sua alternanza tra parti connotate da una grande asprezza e fugaci rallentamenti atmosferici: a partire dal quinto minuto il brano si schiude definitivamente riversandoci addosso tutta la drammaticità e l’intensità di cui gli Shallow Rivers sono eccellenti interpreti.
Tirando le somme, la sensazione è che gli Shallow Rivers abbiano sentito la necessità di inasprire ulteriormente il proprio sound, rendendolo sicuramente più cupo ma facendogli perdere parzialmente quell’afflato melodico che aveva reso il lavoro precedente qualcosa di molto vicino ad un capolavoro.
La bellezza degli ultimi due brani fa capire ampiamente di cosa sia capace questa ottima coppia di musicisti e, anche se The Leaden Ghost non è riuscito ad entusiasmarmi come fece a suo tempo “Nihil Euphoria”, si va a collocare in un contesto qualitativo pur sempre molto elevato.

Author: Stefano Cavanna
Review
Lords of Metal
7.1/10

Het debuut van het Russische Shallow Rivers was een aardig doom/death metal album waar echter geen moment originaliteit aan te ontdekken is. Inmiddels is de band geslonken tot duo. De twee overgebleven heren hebben geprobeerd om een nieuwe impuls te geven aan hun stijl. Dat is ze ook zeker gelukt. De nadruk ligt niet meer op de melodieën, hoewel die nog steedse belangrijk zijn. Er wordt nu geprobeerd om nog zwaarder te klinken en zo nu en dan ook sneller te spelen. Als ik een vergelijking zou moeten maken dan zou ik het ergens tussen Mourning Beloveth en Ophis plaatsen. Wat dat betreft heeft de band een stap vooruit gezet, want de songs zijn echt prima geschreven. Toch is het niet allemaal koek en ei. Omdat er geen drummer meer is, zijn de drums geprogrammeerd. De gebruikte samples klinken echter erg vervelend. Dat neemt een groot deel van het luisterplezier weg en dat is zonde. Voor het volgende album toch maar een echte drummer zoeken of betere samples gebruiken.

Author: Pim B.
Review
Gorgers Metall
30.01.2015

Dette russiske bandet har vжrt aktive siden 2007, og har kommet til andre album. De kan se ut til е ha blitt redusert til en duo nylig, men jeg fеr ikke gjort noe research, da nettet er fullstendig elendig i heimen i dag.* Henry Longfellow’s “The Wreck of the Hesperus” er visstnok basis for det lyriske konseptet. Ut over det har jeg nada е fortelle, med unntak fra et slags forsшk pе е beskrive karenes musikk, naturligvis.

Bandet spiller death/doom med en litt eklektisk vri. Det er fшrst og fremst rytmen som er vanskelig е fе til е stemme. Bandet spiller riktignok ikke den seigeste formen for death/doom, men trommisen har mark i rжva, og tror kanskje han kommer seg fortere hjem til middag hvis han bare gir gass. Uten full konsentrasjon fшles det som om trommelyden kommer fra en annen lydkilde. Men det er ingen faner i nettleseren som spiller musikk i bakgrunnen. Bandet veksler ogsе en hel del mellom klassisk sjanger-form (ala My Dying Bride), et mer atmosfжrisk uttrykk og en slags “teknisk” vinkling.
Resultatet er, som du sikker forstеr, en smule schizo.

Det er likevel noe fascinerende ved The Leaden Ghost. Gutta kan spille. Det er blant annet en del fint gitarspill е oppdrive her. Vokalen er god, og lеtoppbygningen er gjennomtenkt, meningsfull og variert. Lydbildet har lite dynamikk, men produksjonen er god, sе det spiller mindre rolle. Albumet varer i en knapp time, og er like originalt som det er sжrt. Altsе litt i begge retninger. Ganske spennende, og Shallow Rivers byr alt i alt pе rimelig god musikk.
Liker du е dekode det kryptiske er denne utfordringen gjerne en smal sak. Er du like treig i nшtta som meg, kan det derimot ta litt lengre tid е bli dus med denne.
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