Embrace Of Silence - Leaving The Place Forgotten By God (CD)

Review
Pest Webzine
8.5/10

Embrace Of Silence releases their debut album on Solitude Productions, a normal followup to the band's 2010 EP out on the Russian cult underground label Satanarsa. Now it's time for a bigger push for the band and Solitude can certainly provide this. Embrace Of Silence seems like a band straight from the UK's '90's Doom Death Metal scene, their music reminds me of all bands from the golden UK trio: My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost but mostly of Anathema, and here I mean the second wave of releases from the aforementioned bands. Based on slow to mid-tempo Doom Death Metal structures Embrace Of Silence has all elements that made this genre so popular: fat riffs, oppressive atmospheres, melancholic acoustic parts, growling vocals, and melodic guitar leads. Although not being innovative for the scene this band seems to be a honest one, and their music really manages to be expressive, to capture the listener's attention. I like the fact there's plenty of mid-tempo European Death Metal inhere, mixed with a slight touch of American '90's Death Metal, and the melodic elements are like a cherry on top of a good cake. Recommended for followers of '90's Doom Death Metal.

Author: Adrian

Review
Pavillon 666
6.5/10
06.11.2012

EMBRACE OF SILENCE se forme en 2007 en Ukraine. Le groupe interprète un Funeral Doom teinté de Death Metal. Avec deux EP's derrières eux que sont « Autumn Despair » en 2009 et « Inspirational Songs », en 2010. Les ukrainiens sortent cette année leur premier album : « Leaving the Place Forgotten by God ».

La musique du quintette a en effet une forte influence doom, les tempos sont très lents sur l'ensemble des morceaux, l'ambiance que dégage l'album est extrêmement sombre également. Des titres comme « The Slave of Forgotten Graves » comportent des passages plus rapides, plus Death Metal dans l'esprit, qui introduisent de la double-pédale et des harmoniques de guitares. Ces passages plus rapides, présents dans plusieurs titres tels que « Silent Voice, Empty Words » ou « Way to Salvation », dynamisent l'album, en général.

Le style de musique de EMBRACE OF SILENCE n'est évidemment pas accessible à tout le monde, l'ambiance n'est pas seulement noire, elle est aussi mélancolique, voire déprimante. Cependant, les personnes qui aiment le genre devraient apprécier l'essai des ukrainiens. De plus, ces derniers sont aidés par une excellente production. Le son des guitares rappellent un peu CANDLEMASS, avec des harmoniques scintillantes, accompagnées d'une batterie puissante et d'un chant tout aussi puissant.

Bref, un bon son, un album de qualité, mais qui sonne un peu comme du « déjà entendu », malheureusement (MY DYING BRIDE, KATATONIA, ...). EMBRACE OF SILENCE dispose de bons musiciens, mais le groupe manque cruellement d'une âme pour faire vraiment la différence. Tout n'est pas à jeter évidemment et certains morceaux sont vraiment bons à l'instar de « In Angel's Hand », ou « The Gates of Remembrance ».

Il faudra attendre encore un peu pour voir le chemin qu'emprunteront les ukrainiens et voir s'ils parviennent à trouver leur marque de fabrique.

Author: Banger

Review
Xtreem Music
6.5/10
20.10.2012

Desde Ucrania nos llegan EMBRACE OF SILENCE, cuarteto devoto por el Doom/Death facturado a principios de los 90 machacándonos como no, con cada uno de los requisitos que uno podría esperarse de antemano.

Mucho más lejos que su clarísima admiración por MY DYING BRIDE en donde los croatas plasman su mayor influencia, ANATHEMA, KATATONIA (de las que ya versionaron en su anterior EP) el interior de este álbum se hace ameno e incluso agradable una vez empiezan a sonar los temas. Todo suena muy correcto, y con gran ímpetu a la hora de emplearse a fondo con las reglas más manidas, esperadas y obligadas en este tipo género, que no es poco.

“Leaving The Place Forgotten By God” no va mucho más allá que otro simple deja vu musical para los habituales del género, ya sabéis, lo esperado y lo esperado. Y es triste, porque las siete composiciones son dignas de alabanzas y andan muy bien desarrolladas, pero oye, eso no quita que EMBRACE OF SILENCE sean otro calco, otro alfiler u otra estadística a sumar, a la voragine de bandas que se desnudan de la misma forma.

Y es que incluso para desnudarse hay que tener arte, y quizá, ese adjetivo seductor sea una de las ausencias más palpables en este álbum debut y puede que uno de los requisitos indispensables para llegar a mear mucho más alto que la media. Por lo demás, canciones impecables en ejecución, con momentazos a destacar como el fantástico desarrollo que se marcan con “The Slave Of Forgotten Graves”, a base de punteos afinadísimos y una parte acelerada memorable, excelentes tareas en guturalidad lírica, momentazos rítmicos como la inspiradísima entrada con “Way To Salvation”, los cálidos pianos recreados con “In Angel´s Hand”, o el colorido que aporta el violín serían dignas de mención así como demás adjetivos en la línea esperada.

En fin, solo espero que esta humilde opinión ande totalmente equivocada y que la música de EMBRACE OF SILENCE sea algo similar a un bombazo que arrase con todo. Por lo que a mi respecta, no logro sacar mucho más allá que no sea otra simple estadística dentro de un sello discográfico y por defecto otro alfiler dentro de un género que se desnuda a ritmo vertiginoso, mostrándonos sin pudor alguno, las mismas cicatrices, las mismas formas e incluso las mismas curvas de cuerpos ajenos, con descaro, claro.

Seguidores de MY DYING BRIDE y demás bandas mencionadas e aqui el reflejo de su espejo compositivo.

Author: Xavier Bergad

Review
Doom-metal.com
22.09.2012

It'll start to become a running gag among Doom fans: how many Ukrainian and/or Russian bands will cover 'Without God' by Katatonia? The last time I checked, there were about a dozen and counting. These are clearly tributes to a seminal song and album, both of which have undoubtedly shaped a whole scene. Embrace Of Silence are familiar with this exercise, having practiced it on their previous release (the aptly titled cover-EP 'Inspirational Songs'). In my review of that EP, I noted that Embrace Of Silence were still dwelling in the shadows of both Katatonia and My Dying Bride, but that their Doom was promising nonetheless. Well, the same can be repeated in connection with 'Leaving the Place Forgotten by God'.

The problem about this album is simple: while we get a significantly better sound (a change of label has been of great help here (note by the Admin: Solitude Productions are one of the few labels which fully support the studio costs, when needed)) and a bit more aggressiveness (the Black Metal-infused end of 'The Slave of Forgotten Graves'), the rest of the music hasn't changed a bit. 'Leaving the Place Forgotten by God' is still a good album bringing together the best parts of old Katatonia and My Dying Bride. But it's also a very average album, the kind I've already heard a hundred times or so from the Russian-speaking countries. And it really starts to be a problem.

Like I've said before, I'm a sucker for any Katatonia/My Dying Bride- influenced band that manages to deliver well-played music. But sometimes, I just need more than a good copycat. There are songs on this album which show the amount of work Embrace Of Silence have put into it ('The Gates of Remembrance' and 'I'm Your Jesus' are personal favourites), and the guitar parts can be truly awesome sometimes, bringing back the best of what the Finnish Funeral Doom scene has produced. Furthermore, the fact that the musicians are very good at what they do cannot go unnoticed either.

There's a lot of feeling here, and I admit that this is a big improvement on their earlier works. Still, I cannot get the impression out of my head that Embrace Of Silence could have done far better. Right now, they are just a good band having released an average yet enjoyable album. They are a step away from a true masterpiece. I really hope they'll be able to take that step next time.

Author: Laurent Lignon

Review
Metal Temple
10/10
23.08.2012

An artist can come from anywhere in the world. It has been always like this, and this time it is of no exception, is more like the fulfilment of the rule. Ukraine gave birth to this band that even if they might not have anything new, clearly with the use of what has been written in the Doom Metal stream, they made a good use of their talent to compose this album.

EMBRACE OF SILENCE sounds very common for a Doom band, is the extent of the constant mark of darkness and despair that has been drawn along the years. I’ll make a statement here: this album is only for fans of this genre (like I am), in other case avoid it, because you’ll find yourself sleeping and trying to kill yourself.

As for the music, this is very ingrained in the roots of Doom Metal, slow rhythms that take you to a journey through the dark, acoustic segments that fill very well the long minutes of each track, slow solos with a shade atmosphere that could make you numb, and that’s just the beginning.

In the composition you could easily note the great talent among these guys, although they are prolonging a cliché, this is not an easy cliché. If I may say, this is one of the hardest to keep, but this release has managed to remind me guitar tones of CANDLEMASS, mixed with some voices good mixes of voices, keeping the spirit of darkness alive, good drums, and a bass listenable, that’s something very good in these genres.

It is a good release to begin, even when these genres are not as popular as others, they deserve a lot of credit in making such a good album for ears that could only appreciate it in its pure form, having the 90s touch of Doom.

These kinds of releases reminds me a very dark age of my life, maybe that’s why I like it so much, It’s always a pleasure for me to have this on my library, because even when the moments are happy, is very helpful for me to remind who I am, in order to keep a good way of life, even if it’s dark.

Author: Jorge "The Zarto" Zamudio