My Lament - Broken Leaf (CD)

Review
Diabolical Conquest
7.9/10
28.02.2010

Having heard of this band before but dismissing them as overtly melodic and fruity Euro-doom (with a name like My Lament such conclusions are unavoidable), I was pleasantly surprised to find that my expectations of Eastern European gothic monotone were completely absent. In its stead, the Belgian group's debut full length is a dark and brooding death/doom album reminiscent of material from the burgeoning French scene. While the record has enough brute force to keep even me happy throughout its length, it still suffers at the hands of its creators – what is the obsession with nauseating melody? Why do these bands with so much potential feel the need to have ridiculous spoken word sections? Not only can you hear the silly accents but in several sections of Broken Leaf you can make out the lyrics, and believe me when I say that they are not good. Much like their French neighbours, My Lament fall into these cliché doom metal traps, and it severely hampers the album's effectiveness and longevity. But why these faults are so irritating is telling of the band's actual potential – it pains me to hear these flaws because in essence the band have done everything right, and it is said flaws which shave off points that My Lament need to distinguish themselves from the norm.

Though being a hot spot for all styles of metal, France has been churning out excellent doom for a number of years. Ataraxie's Slow Transcending Agony is arguably its pinnacle, but it is their derivative Inborn Suffering that is a better comparison. My Lament fit perfectly alongside the likes of Inborn Suffering or other European death/doom such as Saturnus, Black Wreath, Officium Triste and Mourning Beloveth. What it is distinctive about them however (at least in relation to bands like Saturnus and Black Wreath), is that My Lament retain a certain edge in their composition; slower, melancholic passages notwithstanding, Broken Leaf can at times be an immensely heavy album, replicating the Ataraxie/Inborn Suffering death metal aesthetic .

If anything, Broken Leaf is a step forward. What I disliked most about Inborn Suffering was the band's attempt to incorporate some terrible singing into the overall atmosphere of their music – this did nothing but raise the cringe factor, ruining what would have otherwise been good songs. To my great relief, there is no clean singing to be found on Broken Leaf. While not having shed the spoken word which also plagued Inborn Suffering, the lack of singing puts greater emphasis on Bert De Visscher's exemplary gutturals. But then there are the lyrics. Expect only the usual clichéd Euro-doom drivel – lines like ‘she is a terrified little girl' sound ridiculous no matter how they're put, so I just do my best to ignore them. The song itself ("Her Dark Smile") is in fact very good; much like the rest of the album, it's cohesive and certainly not dull, with a very genuine dark and depressing atmosphere. With that in mind, it's just disappointing to read the lyrics and see the song in a lesser light.

What drives Broken Leaf, as mentioned above, is its cohesion. The album flows from furious riffage to slower melodic moments with ease and fluidity, and in general the instrumentation of the Belgian group is outstanding. The drumming is very well done, something which is rare in doom; much like with Inborn Suffering, My Lament drummer Vincent Jacobs' performance is ear-catching and definitely impressive. The slick production adds notable levels of smoothness to the sound, and to put it bluntly the album as a whole sounds good. Anyone who has heard any European death/doom before will know exactly what to expect - My Lament do not go out of their way to provide anything different, merely offering a slight variant on a very common sound. In the context of originality, they receive no points. However, the record's aforementioned shortcomings aside, execution is Broken Leaf's strong point, and thus for any fan of death/doom there is value to be found here. It's derivative and at times cliché, but Broken Leaf sits to the right of average on the death/doom spectrum, and represents the continuation of this particular European style.

Author: Berkay Erkan

Review
Kronos Mortus
7.5/10
25.12.2009

A belga My Lament második kiadványa a "Broken Leaf" című debütáló lemez. Korábban csupán egy demó jelent meg, mégpedig a 2006-os keltezésű "Beneath The Hidden" demó, amely szerzői kiadásban került nyilvánosságra. 2003-as megalakulásukat több tagcsere kísérte, míg a jelenkori tagság kialakult, talán részben ennek köszönhető, hogy hosszú három év kellett a nagylemez elkészítéséhez.
A banda a doom/death metal skatulyába préselhető, bár nem ennyire egzakt módon. Zenéjük egyszerre idézi a régi klasszikusokat (Paradise Lost, Tiamat, My Dying Bride), és hoz modern megoldásokat, aminek eredménye lett a "Broken Leaf". Kezdésként a címadó tétel csendül fel, amely intróként is funkcionál. A lassú, sodró tempók, dallamos gitártémák méltóképpen vezetik fel az albumot. Itt számomra kicsit a korábban már említett My Dying Bride párhuzam domborodik ki, de ahogy a lemez hallgatása során többször is, ebben az esetben is inkább hangulati jegyek azok, amelyekben a párhuzam megnyilvánul. Az énekes Bert De Visscher hangja mély és súlyos, leginkább a legelső két Paradise Lost albumon hallható vokálokra emlékeztet. Bert itt-ott szavalásokba hajló vokálja nagyon sok erőt visz a zenébe. Ennek ékes bizonyítéka a másodikként elhangzó "Shepherd Of Sorrow" vagy a "Silent Nights".
Főképp a középtempók dominálnak a lemezen, a ritmusszekció változatosan, színesen adja a gitárosok alá a gördülékeny szőnyeget. A dalok kellemesen hatnak, a visszafogottabb részek remek párost alkotnak a nyersebb, agresszívabb témákkal is. Ez utóbbiból is bőven akad a lemezen, például a "My Damnation Deep" nyitóriffjét tudnám említeni, ami már majdhogynem a lassabb death metal klasszikusok hangulatát idézik. Megtört ritmusok is akadnak bőven, amik ugyan nem könnyítik meg a befogadhatóságot, azonban remekül kivitelezettek. A billentyűs hangszerekért felelős ugyan nincsen feltűntetve sehol, viszont ennek a hangszernek is óriási szerep jut, a játékidő nagy részében aláfestő szerepet tölt be, itt-ott azonban előtérbe kerül. A lemez vége felé tempósabb részek is felütik a fejüket, a "The Burden Of Doubt" című szerzeményben már-már korai Dark Tranquility-szintű tempó is található. Remek váltásokkal megkomponált dal ez, személyes kedvencem lett az albumról.
A lemez hangzása sem hagy kívánni valót maga után. Testes, erős, dinamikus megszólalása igaz, hogy elvárás is a stílusban tevékenykedő bandáktól, de ebben az esetben ez is remekül sikerült. A külcsín szintén remekül passzol a koncepcióhoz: a domináns színe a bookletnek a fehér, egyszerű elrendezése viszont nagyon hatásos. Magabiztos produkció tehát a "Broken Leaf" című album, korai Tiamat, MDB, Paradise Lost fanatikusoknak minden bizonnyal tetszeni fog.
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ENGLISH VERSION:
The second release of the Belgian My Lament is the debut album “Broken Leaf”. There was only one demo release, the “Beneath The Hidden” in 2006, which was come by the author. There were many changes in their line-up since their establishment in 2003 which perhaps caused that we had to wait three long years for the new album.
We can say that they play doom/death metal, but not that exactly. Their music represents old classics (Paradise Lost, Tiamat, My Dying Bride), and brings modern things which resulted “Broken Leaf”. They begin with the track broken leaf which also functions as an intro. The slow and sweep along tempo and melodic guitar themes are worthily introduce the album. I feel a bit My Dying Bride in it, but only the atmospheric signs are the cause of these feelings. The voice of the vocalist, Bert de Visscher is deep and heavy which remembers me of the first two albums of Paradise Lost. Bert’s vocal, which sometimes bends to recitation, makes the music stronger. The second track “Shepherd of Sorrow” or the “Silent Nights” are a nice proof for that.
Moderate tempos dominate on the album; the rhythmic section provides varied and colorful carpet under the guitarists. The tracks are impressive; the low-key parts are in a nice harmony with the raw, aggressive themes. There is a plentiful of these on the album, like the opening riffs of “My Damnation Deep”, which almost cites the atmosphere of the slow death metal classics. There are broken rhythms as well, which doesn’t ease the acceptance, but carried out perfectly. The man behind the keyboard isn’t named, however he plays actively at the background and sometimes has a foreground role as well. Faster tracks raise their heads as well at the end of the album; we can find early Dark Tranquility-like tempo in the track “The Burden of Doubt”. It is a track composed with great changes, which made itself my favorite track from the album.
The sound doesn’t leave much to be desired. Its strong and dynamic sound is a must from the bands in this genre; they did a great job with it. The design fits the conception just perfectly: the dominant color of the booklet and the white simple arrangement is very effective. “Broken Leaf” is a confident production which will surely appeal to the fans of early Tiamat, MDB, Paradise Lost.

Review
Heavyimpact
7.5/10
27.11.2009

Formatisi nel 2003, giungono, con un solo demo alle spalle, al debut album i belgi My Lament. E lo fanno nel migliore dei modi, recuperando le sonorità death/doom dal mood malinconico che impregnavano i primi lavori di Anathema e My Dying Bride.

“Broken Leaf” si fa strada in maniera lenta e decadente attraverso otto tracce che riescono a combinare senza forzature: cascate di riffs plumbei, estatici passaggi guidati da eterei arpeggi e compatti down-tempos dal feeling morboso e sofferto, il tutto eseguito con buona varietà strutturale. Tale varietà di fondo, oltre a preservare l’ascoltatore da sensazioni tediose, regala brani dal mood similare (la tristezza e la rassegnazione, sono le componenti primarie che la band esprime) ma sempre dotati di una articolazione che trova nella diversità il proprio modo d’essere.

Si va dalle ballate dolorose di “Silent Nights” e “The Soilseeker” alla compattezza drammatica ed evocativa di “My Damnation Deep” e “Her Dark Smile”, in una manciata di brani dove viene messo in eccellenza il senso poetico di quel vivere velato di romantici impeti malinconici, che nell’800 era atto a cogliere l’assoluto ed il sublime.

Un debut album che ci regala una band matura, una band capace di trasmettere crepuscolari e forti emozioni autunnali, in una rincorsa death/doom diretta all’appassire ed alla caducità dell’esistere.

Author: Andrea Angelino

Review
Femforgacs
9/10
21.11.2009

"Valóban jelenné vált számukra minden. Meg kell bizony mondanunk, a pestis mindenkit megfosztott a szerelem, sőt a barátság képességétől is. A szerelem ugyanis egy csepp jövőt kíván, de a mi számunkra már csak a pillanat volt."
/Albert Camus - A pestis/

A belga My Lament 2003-ban alakult Ghent-ben. Tavaly volt egy demójuk idén pedig a debüttel boldogítják a komor zenék szerelmeseit. Érdekes, hogy a tagok többségének egykori vagy ma is aktív projectjei egytől egyig black és death metal, ennek ellenére klasszikus doom-death-et kapunk némi old school pátosszal és egy minimális folk jelleggel.




Vegetatív zenéjük mély hangzással, szép gót jellegű őszi külsőségekkel és közel egy órás muzsikával merül a kesergés avarja alá a Solitude Productions-nek köszönhetően. Lényegében a leginkább érzékelhető hatás az ősrégi Paradise Lost és My Dying Bride, de megemlíthetném a korai End Of Green-t vagy a Fatum Elisum illetve Mourning Beloveth halmazát. Szép mimézis és szintakszis feszül a doom és death metal gótikus folk kohéziója között, destruktív s ennek ellenére mégis csak építő zene. Nagy témák nem kerülnek elő, a világmegváltás is a távolban marad, ahogy az élet pislákoló gyertyafényét is igyekszik kioltani a lassan szemerkélő eső. A távolban a lélekharang kong, és megindul a gyászmenet vonagló építkezése a maga 54 percén keresztül, szomorkodva, hörögve, szaggatva és a semmibe süppedve – árnyékokat keresve és álmokat dédelgetve…



Valahol legmélye ez is Paradise Lost és korai Asphyx / Dismember konstelláció, amely képes a Bolt Thrower és az Obituary súlyosságával lecsapni és váltakozni - avagy;kvantitatív halál és elmúlás halmaz, amiben az erő és a haldoklás egyaránt lételeme a lassú merülésnek. Mivel az egésznek van némi igencsak régi zenékre emlékeztető húzása (gondolok itt a Black Sabbath-ra vagy a Carhedral-ra), így kiverhetetlenül emlékeztet néhol a svéd Serpent - In the Garden of Serpent korongjára. Búvárszemüveg (használata) nem kötelező, de esetenként érdemes, a mélység legeslegalja, pedig a nagy sötétségben és elzártságban túl sok kincset nem fog tartogatni, de egyeseknek fényesebbek lesznek ezek, mint oly sok minden…

Author: haragSICK

Review
Deadshop
4/5
10.11.2009

New releases from Russian Solitude prods are coming in time before this issue deadline. As always I'm waiting for some good doom metal from them, and… and MY LAMENT has not disappoint me at all! The band is coming from Belgium , the country with pretty intelligent metal scene. As you should decide here's doom metal. I don't know if this band old or young, but their music sounds really mature! Old-schooled doom/death metal; with great keyboards and as a whole pretty good atmosphere or sadness. “Broken Leaf” is made on one breath, music have good structure, with massive death metal rhythmical structure, mixed with melancholic and pressing doom metal carcass, with gothic moods and with growls. Various tempos, both slow and mid ones (with such obscure slow parts!), with some fast ones, which mostly familiar with Swedish death metal of early years… Don't wait something extraordinary, as here's regular doom/death metal, slightly similar to early MDB and etc… All in all, pretty good band, with no any weak or boring tunes in its music. If you are into good metal of doom – MY LAMENT will NOT disappoint you!