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Narrow House - A Key To Panngrieb (CD)

atmospheric funeral doom, Solitude Productions, Solitude Productions
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SP. 064-12 x
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Debut album by a young Ukrainian band Narrow House who was featured at a number of gigs and festivals. «A Key To Panngrieb» album is a 45-minutes-long journey to your subconsciousness accompanied by funeral guitars, atmospheric keyboards and live cello. Another approach to funeral doom metal, another key to eternal secrets of life and death.

Tracklist:
1 Последнее Пристанище 14:33
2 Псевдорятунок 6:45
3 Стеклянный Бог 13:00
4 Под Маской Этой 11:10

Artist:
Narrow House
Artist Country:
Ukraine
Album Year:
2012
Title:
A Key To Panngrieb
Genre:
atmospheric funeral doom
Format:
CD
Type:
CD Album
Package:
Jewel Case
Label:
Solitude Productions
Cat Num:
SP. 064-12
Release Year:
2012
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
Review
Metal.tm
5/10

Solitude Productions - Die Produkte aus der Einsamkeit oder die Produkte der Einsamkeit. Wie könnte ein Label, was vornehmlich zähe, introvertierte und düstere Musik vertreibt, besser heißen. Seit nun mehr sieben Jahren veröffentlicht der russische Vertrieb in schöner Regelmäßigkeit vor allem doomige Platten, mal mit Black Metal-Einflüssen, mal mit ausladenden Ambient-Collagen. Vor allem sind diese Alben häufig eins: Niederschmetternd und mit ihrem gesetzten Tempo sicherlich nicht jedermanns Sache.

Perfekt in diese Nische passen NARROW HOUSE, ein relativ unbekannte, 2009 gegründete, ukrainische Band, die dieser Tage mit "A key to Pangrieb" ihr Debut-Album vorlegt. Darauf enthalten sind vier Songs mit einer Gesamtspielzeit von 45 Minuten in bester Funeral-Doom-Manier. Stets im untersten Bereich – was tempotechnisch möglich wäre – walzen sich die drei Jungs und die Dame mit einer apokalyptischen Ruhe durch ihr Debut. Musikalische Ausbrüche findet man keine, stattdessen soll ein ausladender Keyboard-Teppich, gelegentliche Saxophon-Parts und minimalste Varianten im Riffing für Abwechslung im Songwriting sorgen. Dazu gibt es fast über die gesamte Spielzeit ausdauernde, vor sich hin grollende Vocals, die fast wie ein eigenständiges Instrument eingesetzt werden.

Ob das funktioniert? Nun, gewissermaßen schon, gewissermaßen nicht. Stimmungstechnisch liefern NARROW HOUSE ganz großes, tiefschwarzes Kino. Die intelligent gespielten Keyboard-Parts sorgen für eine immense atmosphärische Dichte und lassen den Hörer ganz tief in einem Sog aus dunklen Gefühlen versinken. Die Saxophon-Parts und gelegentlich fein eingestreute Melodiebögen tun ihr Übriges. Sogar die extrem monotonen Vocals fallen in diesem Kontext nicht negativ auf, sondern fügen sich harmonisch in ein Klangbild ein, wie es spartanischer und einseitiger nicht sein könnte.
Und da liegt das große Problem. Obwohl ich mich beim Hören dieser CD gut unterhalten fühle – vor allem, wenn ich nebenbei etwas anderes mache – geben NARROW HOUSE mir keinerlei Motivation, die Repeat-Taste zu betätigen. Von den vier Songs (von denen der letzte übrigens ein ESOTERIC-Cover ist, was mir gar nicht aufgefallen wäre) bleibt nichts und zwar wirklich nichts hängen. Kein genialer Moment, kein Lichtschimmer in der Dunkelheit – Nichts. Und das ist mir persönlich viel zu wenig.

Author: Torben K.
Review
Infernal Masquerade Webzine
8.3/10
08.11.2012

Being huge fans of Doom Metal, we sometimes dabble in the realms of Funeral Doom Metal, its ugly and boring cousin. While we are not huge fans of the genre due to its mind-numbing repetition and ridiculously slow execution, some bands like Shape of Despair and Thergothon are still ok in our book. Hence today we have Narrow House and their less boring approach to the genre with “A Key to Panngrieb”. By introducing lush atmospheric elements that range from keyboards to cellos, this band really grabs ahold of the listener and keeps it engaged for the duration of the huge songs in this album.

Opening with the crushing “Poslednee Pristanishe”, things start very well with the perfect mixture of slow and painful riffs, commanding growls, and brilliant atmosphere. The simplicity of the music is really well shrouded behind a well-crafted atmosphere thanks to the keyboards. The band does a great job in navigating through such a long song with well-placed tempo changes. The same can be said about the considerably shorter track “Psevdoriatunok”, but with a nice combination of growls and ethereal clean vocals, very reminiscent of Draconian and such bands.

The hypnotic “Steklianniy Bog” has to be our favorite track thanks to its very martial feeling and unique atmosphere. The pace of things is majestic allowing the song to free flow slowly and carrying all the emotions through it. Closing with the 11 minute scorcher “Pod Maskoy Etoy”, the band really brings this release full-circle with a powerful yet elegant track. However, there are a few speedups that we didn’t quite like since the sound very abrupt and chaotic, but other than this little detail the song is pretty solid.

“A Key to Panngrieb” is definitely for fans of Funeral Doom Metal that need a bit more than just punishing riffs repeated over and over. With the atmospheric elements, Narrow House manages to be above the average bands in the genre and should actually be considered as one of promises of the genre. If the band puts a bit more effort in creating a bit more diverse songs, we foresee ourselves liking them quite a lot more in the future, and we are sure they will also attract more fans this way.

Author: Dark Emperor
Review
Puregrainaudio
6.5/10
24.08.2012

Narrow House is another one of those bands that I came across while scouring the internet. The group is from the Ukraine and play what they describe as "apocalyptic doom", apparently replete with psychological imagery when the band plays live. Although they've been together since 2009, A Key to Panngrieb is the band's debut album and will only be released on Solitude Productions later this month.

How does it sound you ask? Well, apocalyptic doom is in fact a most apt description. This is some slow and heavy stuff that sounds like it would make the perfect soundtrack to the end of times. Low and rumbling with snarled vocals and depressive undertones, the music is not for the faint of heart. However like all good doom, despite the gloom there is still plenty of beauty to be found in the album.

While this may not be something you would want to put on for a warm sunny day, it is the perfect sonic accompaniment for the coming Fall season. This is a promising debut by a band with a lot of potential. Check out A Key to Panngrieb and support the band!

Author: Curtis Dewar
Review
Iye Zine
7/10
08.11.2012

I Narrow House appartengono alla nutrita schiera di band dedite a sonorità funeral doom che, in questi ultimi anni, stanno emergendo dai territori dell’ex-Unione Sovietica.

I nostri, nello specifico, arrivano dalla capitale dell’Ucraina, Kiev, e con “A Key To Panngrieb” pubblicano il loro esordio assoluto; in casi come questi non è infrequente imbattersi in lavori a dir poco minimali oppure suonati in maniera approssimativa e prodotti ancora peggio.
Per fortuna tutto ciò non accade ai Narrow House, che propongono un buonissimo disco ricco di atmosfere tetre quanto eleganti, andandosi a collocare non troppo lontano dalle quanto già fatto dagli ex-connazionali Comatose Vigil e, quindi, mostrando tutta loro devozione verso gli Skepticism, autentici numi tutelari di questa variante atmosferica del funeral.
Nell’esaminare l’album, si nota che i primi tre brani (i titoli in inglese sono frutto di una libera traduzione dal cirillico, quindi non è detto che siano corretti al 100%), nell’arco di mezz’ora abbondante di musica si mantengono abbondantemente all’interno dei binari tracciati da molte altre band, ma non per questo il lavoro del quartetto ucraino deve essere trascurato, tutt’altro: il suono mantiene costantemente un preciso disegno melodico grazie ad atmosfere struggenti sulle quali troneggia il growl maligno di Yegor.
Un discorso a parte va fatto per il quarto e ultimo brano che, in effetti, mostrerebbe interessanti elementi di discontinuità rispetto al resto delle tracce, se non si trattasse della cover (ben camuffata inizialmente dal solito titolo in cirillico) di “Beneath This Face” degli Esoteric.
Complessivamente “A Key To Panngrieb” si rivela un bel disco e, pur senza strafare, i Narrow House portano a casa un’ampia e meritata sufficienza; inoltre, considerando che il contenuto di questo lavoro è frutto di una gestazione durata circa due anni e che, nel frattempo, la band ucraina può e deve essere ulteriormente maturata, mi sento di scommettere qualche euro su un prossimo full-length in grado davvero di lasciare il segno.

Author: Stefano Cavanna
Review
Femforgacs
7.5/10
07.10.2012

Újabb ukrán zenekar, ismét cirill betűkkel és megint a Solitude kiadásában... A műfaj pedig sötét atmoszférikus funeral doom, a banda saját megnevezése szerint apokaliptikus doom. Szerintem ez a jelző kevésbé illik a zenéjükre, ez alatt a jelzés alatt inkább gondolnék valami csapongó, változatos zenére, de tény, hogy ha eljön a világvége ez a lemez tökéletes zenei aláfestést nyújtana számára. A Narrow House 2009 óta aktív, de ez az első kiadványuk, kezdésnek elég ígéretes, de semmivel sem lóg ki a hasonló próbálkozások közül. Először a zenekar nevét sem tudtam igazán hova tenni, de kis utánajárással kiderítettem, hogy a „keskeny ház” konkrétan egy szleng kifejezés a koporsóban eltöltött vidám percekre. Így már elfogadható név egy ilyen közegben forgó (nyugvó) bandának.

Zenéjük hosszú, vontatott tételekből áll, de mint minden jó doom lemezen, a homályból itt is rengeteg apró szépség képes felbukkanni a vicsorgó depresszív énekkel karöltve. Az egész nagyon jól szól, de ugyebár a Solitude ritkán okoz e téren csalódást. Ami itt folyik, vagy inkább vánszorog, az a napsütés és a boldogság tökéletes ellenpólusa, inkább a kín és lassú elmúlás megzenésített formája. A többi vonagló funeral doom zenekartól a cselló és szintetizátor ötletes használatával szeretnék magukat megkülönböztetni, de egyenlőre ez a kísérlet nem bizonyul túl sikeresnek a keverés miatt. Az említett két hangszer ritkán kap megfelelő hangsúlyt, így a jó ötletek gyakran vesznek a háttérbe. Erősen kellett tehát fülelnem a hallgatás közben, hogy elkapjam a sokszor tényleg hangulatos dallamokat. Remekül szólnak a dobok, minden kis finomságot megkapunk, a basszus mély és morajló, ahogy annak lennie kell, a gitárhangzás viszont elég monotonra sikerült. Egy funeral doom lemezt amúgy sem lehet másképp hallgatni, csak kizárva minden mást a világból, különben jön a szokásos vád: a lemezt áthatja a végtelen unalom. A szürreális borító is azonnal felkeltette az érdeklődésemet, rögtön a nevükhöz illő kép ugrott be róla: egy élve eltemetett ember kukucskál ki egy koporsóból. Hát nem felemelő?
A lemez rögtön a kedvenc tételemmel kezdődik, ami a megnyerő „Последнее Пристанище” /The Last Refuge/ címet viseli és a maga 14 percével igazi funeral szörnyeteg. Halk felvezető morajlással, természeti hangokkal indul, de a távoli horizonton megjelennek a viharfelhők és elindul a vízözön, ami remek dallamokkal kezdi el maga alá temetni a nagyérdeműt. A dalt a hörgés, magasabb hangú károgás mellett kiegészíti visszafogott zongora, cselló és halk mormolás is, a fő riff pedig lassú, bánatos bólogatásra készteti a nagyérdeműt. A dalhoz készítettek egy hangulatában tökéletesen passzoló videót is.




A lemez legrövidebb dala követi a remek nyitást, a „Псевдорятунок” /Psevdoryatunok/, a dalra nem lehet panaszunk, de kevésbé egyedi elődjénél. Egy jól megírt funeral tétel, gyorsabb, lassabb részekkel, a pozitív hangok teljes kerülésével. A csellónak sikerül egy kis varázst csempésznie a dalba, de attól még nem lesz izgalmasabb ez a közel 7 perc. A folytatás a 13 perces „Стеклянный Бог” /Glass God/ képében érkezik, az album leglassabb, legsötétebb tétele, igazi funeral csemege. Hol gyorsabb, hol lassabb a tempó, de végig monoton lüktetés táplálja. Nehéz pontot adni rá, mert sok hallgatást követelt /az egész lemezzel egyetemben/. Néha teljesen kikapcsolt, hatást gyakorolt rám, máskor minden hangját untam. Egyszerűen hangulatzene, ami a 10-es és 5 pontos skála között mozog attól függően, milyen pillanatban kap el. A záró tétel egy feldolgozás dal, az Esoteric Beneath A Face c. dalából készült, persze tökéletesen lefordítva és a csellóval megtűzdelve. Ha kicsit bátrabban használnák ezt a hangszert, akkor látnám értelmét ennek a feldolgozásnak, egyébként pedig leginkább másolás szaga van a dolognak. A dalban kapott pár másodperces zúzások, a kegyetlen hangzás persze elfeledteti velünk ezt a tényt, aki nem ismeri az eredetit, annak kellemesen kellemetlen perceket fog szerezni a tétel. Hatására elő is vettem az Esoteric lemezt...
Aki szereti a Shape Of Despair, Esoteric, Pantheist munkásságát, sok örömet lelhet ebben a lemezben. Furcsa mód gyakran belehallom Clint Mansell zeneszerző munkásságát is, főleg a cselló miatt. Egyenlőre nálam még messze vannak a csúcstól, de az ígéret megvan bennük, hogy a műfaj legjobbjai közé tartozhassanak.

Author: boymester
Review
Doommantia
8.5/10
05.10.2012

Another band from the Ukraine, another album on the Solitude Productions label and another band with a strange name. Actually Narrow House is a slang term for a coffin so it is actually a very fitting moniker for a doom band. Narrow House are obscure so there is not much I can say about where they came from. I do know that all the original members came from other band called Funestum but that is where my info ends. You also don't want to confused this band with another Narrow House from the USA, if you do you will get a very weak thrash-metal band. The band has given themselves many tags including, "apocalyptic doom," "funeral doom," and "ambient doom" so you may be a little confused over where they fit into the doom scene and after listening to this I too am a bit confused on where to place this band. This is death doom, funeral, traditional, ambient but funeral doom is the best tag for this band. The recurring element though is a bleak atmosphere and crushing ambiance and while there is nothing unique about the band really, they thankfully don't sound too much like anyone else which gives 'A Key To Panngrieb' some staying power.

The main gear the band get stuck in is funeralized doom metal and a very dark and gloomy one at that. Make no mistake about it, there are no light hearted moments on this album, this is a heavily atmospheric album that WILL bring you down emotionally if you let it. As I already mentioned the band is on the Solitude Productions label and that should be your first clue. This fits in with most of what else the label has on its books so it comes as no surprise when you hear this is generic slab of funeral doom but as predictable as it is, it is still a excellent dose of funeral doom that is actually memorable which for the funeral doom sub-genre is quite the achievement. Sounding a bit like label-mates Abstract Spirit, the band take the listener through four (mostly) very long funeral doom dirges, the longest being almost 15 minutes and it is certainly not the most straight to the point doom album going around. Song titles are in their native language so I won't try to remember them here and have no idea what these pieces are all about but the growl is very much in the mold of bands like Shape of Despair - so much so that I did think I was listening to that band at one stage during my first spin of this album.

It is not exactly ground-breaking stuff nor does it need to be, if it is good enough and thankfully Narrow House have more going for them than the average funeral doom band. Oddly enough, the band are not real big on riffs. Songs are built around simple chords and a rumbling, guttural resonance coming from the vocals. Songs for the most part are lifeless, depressive excursions and I say that in a good way. The album starts off surprisingly peaceful but soon explodes into loud, crushing waves of apocalyptic doom so you have been warned, be careful with the volume as this beast gets incredibly loud once it gets going. The album starts with 'The Last Refuge' if you want the English-translated version and it is a kind of apocalyptic slice of moody doom that never seems to get to where it wants to go. It is a slow building dirge that blends the horrific and ugly with the beautiful and the melancholic but just as you think the band is going to lighten up the depressive load, it drags you under once again with suffocating bleakness. Depressing doom albums are a dime-a-dozen these days but this surely stands out as one of the most depressive albums released in some-time.

As the album progresses, there are no big surprises, this is funeral doom, generic but interesting and never so slow and uneventful you get the urge to turn it off after one song (the problem with a lot of other funeral doom acts). The album is big, open and spacious like the musicians are not even playing in the same country, let alone the same studio. There are huge gaps in every guitar strike, cymbal and drum hit which makes this seem much slower than what is actually is. They bleed out their music so listening to this is like being strangled to death very very slowly which is a killer hook and perfect for a funeral doom exercise. The first three tracks on the album all follow a similar path and don't offer a hell of a lot of variance so you can be forgiven in thinking this is just one long funeral doom epic. Narrow House blend in keys and cello but they are used very sparingly and you may not even notice this instrumentation at first.

The album closer is a cover of Esoteric's "Beneath This Face" which is translated into Russian for the album (the other tracks are all in Ukrainian) but it still works in the bands favor. This version is very good but if you are like me, you might wonder why they bothered as the bands originals are just as good. When it is all said and done 'A Key To Panngrieb' is a very solid but unoriginal funeral doom album, nothing remarkable but very listenable. The playing, production, and songwriting is great despite the feeling you have heard it all before and after all, how can any band be totally original in such a limited genre anyway. If you are seeking out something totally original in this bleakest of sub-genres, you are probably looking in the wrong place with this album. As it is Narrow House have produced a "surprise release" that is far more captivating than anyone could have possibly expected. This is for fans of Shape of Despair, Ea, Abstract Spirit and Colosseum. You guys and girls have another foreboding chunk of funeral doom to soak up.........perfect with the winter months approaching, check it out.....
Review
The Pit of the Damned
7/10
05.12.2012

“Una chiave per Panngrieb”. Un occhio, una serratura e delle mine sono inserite, in uno stile surreale in una gamma di colorazione opaca e infelice. Si scaglia subito contro gli organi visivi, il curioso artwork in stile krautrock, utilizzato per presentare questo debut album dei Narrow House, band ucraina proveniente da Kiev. Quattro tracce di puro funeral doom, ci cullano dolcemente per tre quarti d'ora facendoci riprendere speranza nella immensa ma stagnante situazione del doom estremo dell'est Europa. La prima cosa che mi fa alterare immediatamente è però la completa impostazione del booklet in cirillico, come faccio a leggermi i testi e tutte le altre cose inutili, se non riesco neppure a decodificare la scrittura? Io voglio bene alla Solitude Production ma non può giocarmi questi scherzi. Il fatto è che non ho ancora capito cosa sia codesta Panngrieb, non so voi ma io la notte non dormo. Oltre a ciò, un'altra cosa che non mi sta proprio a genio è la cover degli Esoteric nel finale; apprezzo l'aria di gioventù del gruppo che vuole rinnovare l'ambiente con una cover, ma nel funeral doom non ho un buon occhio per questa cosa, soprattutto se occupa quasi un terzo dell'opera. Biricchini questi “Casa Stretta”, perché non disdegno tanto la cover ma identifico ciò, come voglia di non creare una traccia propria e quindi di disimpegno. Ad ogni modo, ascolto dopo ascolto sono sempre più soddisfatto di questo full length perché denota un notevole sviluppo dal genere classico, un po' come stanno facendo gli Ea, e difatti alcuni studiosi del generi stanno identificando (ed etichettando) questi nuovi lavori come atmospheric funeral doom. Il suono è calibrato in modo da risultare ampio per far respirare completamente ogni momento dell'opera, con i volumi non eccessivi per permettere di godere della dinamica nei vari cambiamenti d'atmosfera. I Narrow House potrebbero essere dei validi capofila di un nuovo movimento doom.

Author: Kent
Review
Pest Webzine
8/10

It seems Doom Metal is a real trend in Russia and Ukraine nowadays, otherwise I wouldn't explain myself how come there are so many bands comming out from those lands. Narrow House seems to be a pretty young act, composed by young musicians, so I hope they are not in only for the sake of being part of the trend, I hope they will continue with this band, on the same path as now. "A Key to Panngrieb" is the band's debut album composed of only 4 tracks, but the total playing time is more than 45 minutes. For a genre like Funeral Doom Metal that doesn't give much space for variety and complexity in composition, Narrow House did a good job here by adding the very depressive, disturbing voilin parts. The keyboards play also a major part in their music, the vocals are as versatile as they can be but still keeping a growling tone most of the time, the drums and bass lines really capitalize their importance and the excellent production allows all this to happen. So all in all Narrow House released a very good debut album, one that will certainly attract the interest of Funeral Doom followers out there.

Author: Adrian
Review
Aristocrazia Webzine
02.12.2012

Nuove band doom nascono ogni giorno e la Solitude Productions sembra essere sempre pronta a dar loro spazio, il roster dei russi è in piena e continua espansione, fra le ultime scoperte possiamo citare anche gli ucraini Narrow House.
Lo stile in cui si cimentano i quattro ragazzi di Kiev è il funeral, la rappresentazione è però meno oppressiva e claustrofobica di quella originaria di formazioni come i Thergothon, si avvicina per lo più alla corrente atmosferico/malinconica degli Shape Of Despair, attinge in parte da act quali Evoken e pur avendo a che fare con un quartetto di tracce, tre delle quali dalla durata particolarmente estesa coerentemente adeguate allo sviluppo delle cadenze grevi e ampie delle quali si nutrono, contrariamente a quanto ci si attende in "A Key To Panngrieb" si riscontra una flebile presenza di luce, una speranza che seppur fioca e quasi al collasso, continua a resistere emanando un calore che contrasta con la natura impervia e oscura che classicamente regna in tali lavori.
Le composizioni sono strutturate in maniera elementare, la semplicità alle volte è disarmante, i cicli si ripetono e ripetono facendo spazio a melodie che le attraversano, sia le chitarre che le incursioni a tappeto dei synth alimentano la lenta e costante avanzata, di tanto in tanto s'intrufola un violoncello a infoltire l'ambiente di grigiore, la voce frequentemente ringhiante e tendente a un growl strisciante nei momenti più intensi si risolleva diventando quasi gracchiante, tristezza e disperazione vengono diffuse dalle note che imperterrite proseguono un tragitto che costante si ripete.
I quarantacinque minuti di "A Key To Panngrieb" sono un monoblocco che avanza, impercettibilmente come fosse trattenuto da un'ancora che lo costringe a sforzi disumani, non c'è l'abisso ad attenderlo, sembra più la ricerca d'afferrare un qualcosa che non si arriva neanche a sfiorare a rendere cupa e mesta l'atmosfera e sia la produzione, da un buon sfogo alla strumentazione in toto, che la parte grafica, con una cover alquanto surreale, si pongono a favore della costruzione di tale tipologia di scenario, quale sarà il significato di quell'occhio con una serratura annessa?
Le stagioni più consone per affrontare l'ascolto di album simili sono ormai giunte anche se son sicuro che gli amanti del genere non avranno rinunciato a percorrere queste lande neanche durante la calda estate che ha segnato ancora una volta la nostra Penisola, a loro in primis consiglio l'ascolto dei Narrow House, gli ucraini ne hanno ancora di strada da fare ma come primo lavoro non c'è male.

Author: Mourning
Review
Doom-metal.com
01.10.2012

Whenever I listen to an album for the final time before reviewing it, I jot down some handwritten notes. Usually they take up about one third of a page, but not all of them make it into the final version of the text. In the case of A Key to Panngrieb, the debut album of Narrow House, my notes are considerably shorter, amounting to a couple of lines only. Why is that? Is it an almost flawless album with very few weaknesses to point out? No: there simply doesn’t seem to be all that much to be said about this album. The band is from Ukraine, plays Atmospheric Funeral Doom (their own description is Ambient Funeral Doom, but I cannot detect any Ambient to be honest) and has signed a deal with Solitude Productions. These few pieces of information pretty much sum up the whole deal and will tell every fan of Solitude’s profile to give this band a try, whereas those who are on the lookout for something groundbreaking will look elsewhere.

Of course, this preliminary summary is a simplification. It is true that Narrow House do not bring anything new to the scene, their Funeral Doom is very much by the book. Steady rhythms, simple power chord progressions without any technically or structurally challenging elements, little change throughout the songs, you get the picture. Like many of their Solitude colleagues, they have a less melancholic and emotional sound than their Finnish forbears (most notably Shape of Despair and Colosseum) while still maintaining a gloomy atmosphere. Their style is somewhat reminiscent of their labelmates Comatose Vigil or Abstract Spirit (especially the first album), only less… abstract. As usual with the Russian label, the production is modern, powerful and crystal clear, and the quality of the printed artwork leaves nothing to be desired either.

By now it has become unavoidable to ask: do the Ukrainians have any identity of their own that transcends these predictable parameters? Well, let us have a look at their consistent use of a cello … There are few lead guitars, leaving it to the cello and the keyboards to provide the melodies for the most part. In theory, using the cello as a replacement for lead guitars could be an interesting idea and a recognisable trademark. Unfortunately, this potential is not exploited – instead, the cello remains very much in the background (sometimes it is even overshadowed by synthesized strings), playing simple supportive lines most of the time. It does add to the atmosphere, but remains more of a gimmick. The final track “Под Маской Этой“ serves best to illustrate these shortcomings: it is in fact a cover of “Beneath This Face” by Esoteric (translated into Russian, which is the language of all the lyrics with the exception of “Псевдорятунок“ which is in Ukrainian), and while the band certainly deserves respect for managing to recreate Greg Chandler’s complex arrangement, their version is very pale compared to the original and totally lacks the density and depth the British masters are renowned for. Again, it could have been an interesting experiment to transform the song into a more orchestral piece with the cello as a prominent instrument, but it just isn’t daring enough.

Despite the above remarks, 'A Key to Panngrieb' is a solid album which shows a lot of promise. The band’s talent in creating a dark, foreboding atmosphere is most apparent in the opening track with its cleverly arranged intro section slowly building up into a bleak Funeral Doom anthem. For a debut, the level of professionalism is quite exceptional, and the musicians do a good job. Apart from the strong growls, I would like to highlight the drumming in particular, which is excellent for genre standards and surprisingly well-produced, too. On the whole this should be a nice adition to the collection of Melodic/Atmospheric Funeral Doom addicts. Let us hope that Narrow House will be able to exploit much more of their potential on future releases and come up with something more relevant und unique. I believe that they can do much better than this. Their work made me think of the way Ea started out: their first album didn’t catch my attention back then, sounding rather generic and immature, but they have since evolved into a force to be reckoned with and their albums are captivating from beginning to end. I can imagine a similar career for the Ukrainian newcomers.

Author: Dominik Sonders
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