Ophis - Withered Shades (CD)

Review
Doom Mantia
8.5/10
21.06.2010

This is another new addition to ever increasing, ever more monumental Solitude Productions list of releases of high quality of Doom Metal and this depressing monster is about as heavy and as morbid as you get in the genre's of Traditional Doom and Death Doom. Ophis stand out among their label mates in as much as they more Traditional than most other bands on the label especially from the perspective of a Death/Doom hybrid. What you get here is 5 really long songs, all 10 to 15 minutes or more in length, all mostly very slow and extremely crushing but they do throw in some in unexpected tempo changes in when you least expect it. If you are looking for a reference point, then Centurians Ghost, Ahab, Skepticism meets the more Traditional sounds of Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus would be the obvious statement to make. The concepts on "Withered Shades" seem to center around the doomed planet we live on and the ultimate demise of that entire human race. The subject has been dealt with many times before but Ophis descriptive writing style gets the point across better than most although you will need the lyric booklet to understand it as the vocals are done in the guttural style made famous in Doom Metal by Esoteric, Skepticism and Ahab.

Even though there is 5 tracks on the album, they really don't change much at all so going into detail about each piece seems pointless but there is some surprises along the way. First track "The Halls Of Sorrow" crawls along with the weight of a German tank, seething and extremely bleak for over 15 minutes but towards the end you get a tasty thrash/death metal section when you least expected it. Other times there is some more acoustically driven sections but for the most part, it is centered around one crushing riff after another but there is a underlying deathly melody to all of it. This is much darker, colder and more harsh sounding than their 2007 debut "Stream Of Misery" and these 5 tracks can put you in a trance-like state if you let it. If you like your Doom Metal to put across a feeling of sheer pain and anguish then "Withered Shades" will satisfy that craving and if Doom Metal is about some kind of emotional pull, then they succeed at doing that too. Stand out tracks are the opener "The Halls Of Sorrow" and "Necrotic Reflection" mainly due to more light and shade than the other three beasts on this disc but those tracks are great tracks in their own right also.

If there is a downside to the album, its a bit samey throughout most of its 64 minutes and the extended running times of each cut can test your love for Funeral Doom. The vocals could also be a sticking point for some listeners, i know from emails and comments i get regularly the deathly growling vocal approach is getting a bit predictable and tiresome for some folks out there but personally i dig the vocals despite the cliched approach. The production on the album is massive, thick and heavy. The songs contained some of the most hellish riffs recorded in recent years even though the band does sound more like something from the 90's than anything new coming out now. Its heavy, melodic in small doses with enough uniqueness to make "Withered Shades" stand out as a timeless recording in the genre. I have a feeling this will be one of those albums that will be regarded as a classic in years to come. "Ophis" is Greek for "snake" and which seems fitting for a band that plays like a snake moves, slithering, mysterious but can strike with real aggression when you are not ready for it.

A couple of points to be aware of, the artwork on the album is very much in the Black Metal vain with a pentagram and a inverted cross embedded in their logo but this has nothing to do with Satanic Metal at all, so that is a little misleading. That may seem like a trivial observation but some people might be put off by that, please don't be though because this is 100% Doom Metal pure and undiluted by any other musical influences apart from the odd tempo change. The line up of Philipp Kruppa - Vocals/Guitars, Jan Baum - Guitars, Oliver Kröplin - Bass and Nils Groth - Drums are accomplished musicians as this album shows. Lets hope we don't have to wait another 3 years for the next installment from this fine German band.

Author: ED

Review
Kaos Guards
01.06.2010

Deuxième album pour les Allemands de Ophis. « Withered Shades » trace un peu plus profondément le sillon marqué par « Stream of Misery » en 2007, à savoir un Doom Death profondément ancré dans la tradition telle qu’établie dans les années 90 par Paradise Lost (sur « Lost Paradise » et « Gothic ») ou par Anathema (des débuts).

Au programme, cinq longues compositions (le quart d’heure étant une unité de mesure qui n’effraie pas le groupe) pour plus d’une heure de riffs évidemment pesants, de vocaux ultra-caverneux, de rythmiques telluriques, l’ensemble servi par une production âpre et sans fioritures. L’ambiance générale s’avère totalement lugubre et funèbre, comme en attestent des textes porteurs de visions de dévastation, de déréliction et de désespoir.

Même si Ophis n’apporte que peu de nouveauté dans chaque élément mis en oeuvre, le groupe possède un savoir-faire et une force de conviction qui valent gages d’efficacité. De plus, Ophis sait aérer quelque peu ses longues et austères digressions en les ponctuant de passages plus mélodiques, quoique tout autant dépressifs. Quelques accélérations bien brutales se manifestent également, sans compromettre la pesanteur globale.

En l’occurrence, la tradition a du bon car l’écoute de « Withered Shades » procure une jouissive impression de claustrophobie, d’oppression fatale, de désespoir inexpugnable. Les authentiques amateurs du genre ne demandent en principe rien d’autre et ils doivent en toute logique se procurer cette oeuvre au noir.

Author: Alain Lavanne

Review
Hell Ride Music
14.06.2010

Another new arrival from the heavy leaden hearts over at Solitude Productions, this sophomore full-length release by highly praised German Doom band Ophis is a more classic doom metal sounding album than The Howling Void and other label mates, although no less gloom filled or heavy. This is definitely one of my favorite new Doom metal scores.

The length of the tracks are yet again the roughly fifteen minutes of pure and unbridled abysmal gloom and lead-like chords, but where others go more into this trance-like sloth fog of emotional and symphonic elements, Ophis likes to throw in some great riffs and melody with speed in places to add a bit more metal throttle and momentum to this beast. Honestly, most of this release is a return to a fathomless and abysmal Doom metal sound that will equally appeal to fans of: Candlemass/Solitude Aeturnus/ Solstice/Mael Mordha/Centurians Ghost; as it will to the funeral doom crowd, for it still predominantly remains as slow as a glacier gliding across the bottom of the ocean, but the dreamy feel is gone in favor of massive riffs heavier than the gravitational pull of a nearly dead star about to implode into a black hole.The vocal style is very much the hollow and foggy growl heard from bands like Esoteric, Skepticism and Ahab, sounding as if they are a calling from some inhuman beast or mythological creature entrenched miles beneath the Earth.

Regardless of how you like your doom or metal, Ophis will satisfy the craving for absolute despair and the haunting of one’s soul, as you ache with eternal pains and crawl across your existence toward the end. This just came out and has already been on constant rotation with me, I can’t seem to escape its pull as it’s equally hypnotic as it is heavy. You’d be doing yourself a major disservice to not check into this release. It’s diverse, heavy, melodic, and will appeal to fans of anything just mentioned. “Withered Shades” trades in the funereal and isolationist feel for a more narrative feel of something Lovecraftian or even Tolkien, like a giant basilisk or serpentine creature deep within the bowels of the Earth doomed to lurking and slithering along for all eternity in search of an escape.

Author: Janet Willis

Review
The Streets
7/10
31.08.2010

Denne var en seig nøtt å knekke, gitt. Ophis er fra Tyskland, de har holdt på siden 2001 og «Withered Shades» er deres andre album. De har på merkelig vis klart å kreere Down-tempo Death Metal uten at det har blitt hverken Death/Doom eller Funeral Doom, men har likevel masse elementer som peker mot disse sjangrene. Ut fra coveret deres antok jeg egentlig at de skulle fremvise noe enda mer nihilistisk, beksvart og dunkelt enn hva de gjør, så naturlig nok førte de første rundene med seg noe skuffelse. I det hele tatt må lydbildet sies å være overraskende varmt og sjøl om power-chordene serveres akk så slepende i lag med kjellerstenket vokal er jeg mer fristet til å kalle musikken for atmosfærisk, enn for en sonisk manifestering av sorte hull. At de innimellom kjørte på med mer typiske old school death metal-partier og sågar blastbeats på trommene virket bare malplassert og forstyrrende i begynnelsen, men nå – etter 13 runder i spilleren – har ørene og hodet vendt seg til denne variasjonen og det er egentlig jævlig digg at de har klart å snike inn slike tempoendringer uten å miste den mørke feelingen. Når det er sagt klarer jeg ikke bestemme meg for om jeg syns slutten på spor tre, «Earth Expired», ødelegger for den kvelende stemningen som har vart de ni første minuttene eller om de bare er en glimrende forberedelse til neste låt. De minner tidvis om mektige Esoteric, i andre øyeblikk har de gitarharmonier som er hentet fra MDB, om enn aldri så flyktige. Det var liksom ikke noe som var spesielt med «Withered Shades», men likevel har det timelange albumet plutselig fått tretten timers spilletid og forsatt er det mer å hente i musikken deres. Hvis du prøver å renske hodet ditt for den arketypiske oppfatningen av hva Death/Doom er, forekommer Ophis egentlig som den bokstavtro tolkningen av sjangeren. Mon tro om ikke det burde vært slengt på ei ekstra stjerne på sluttkarakteren?

Author: Rune

Review
Obliveon
9/10

Es gibt gewisse Baustellen, die man sich aus guten Gründen nicht oder nicht gerne antut. Bei mir ist das der Doom Metal, der für einige Enttäuschungen in der Vergangenheit gesorgt hat. Insoweit traf „Withered Shades“ auf den ersten Vorbehalt, als ich mir das Promoblättchen zu Gemüte führte. Der nächste Gedanke, der mir kam, war, dass es sich wohl um schwere Kost handeln wird, da sich die Spielzeit von über einer Stunde auf ganze fünf Tracks verteilt. Zähe Doom-Monster sind für mich der personifizierte Albtraum und „Withered Shades“…ein Album, dass meine Erwartungen deutlich übertroffen hat. Obwohl die Band aus Hamburg bereits seit neun Jahren besteht und mit dem neuen Album erst ihr zweites Langeisen auf den Markt geworfen haben, kann man deutlich die Qualität der Musiker und das richtige Gespür für eine feine Doom/Death-Mischung heraushören. Wie es sich für eine derartige Scheibe gehört, brodeln die Songs mit unterschwelliger Eruptionsattitüde im schleppenden Midtempo und verzücken mit leichten Temposteigerungen bis hin zu einer Art Vollgasfahrt (’Earth Empired’). Man hat nicht den Eindruck, dass Ophis das Genre revolutionieren wollen, vielmehr liegt der Grund, dass „Withered Shades“ eine enorme Wirkung entfaltet und das Gefühl auslöst, als würde es einen förmlich umblasen, in seiner Stringenz, die mit einfachsten Mitteln erreicht wird. Orientiert am Doom der frühen 90er erzeugt man perfekte Stimmungen, die durch schwere Gitarrenriffs und hasserfüllten Grunts wie eine tonnenschwere Wand wirken und ihre bedrohliche Wirkung entfalten. Dass man bei der endzeitlichen Stimmungslage nicht hektisch agiert und urplötzlich das Gaspedal durchdrückt, versteht sich für Ophis quasi von selbst. Ein kleiner melodischer Einschub als Vorbereiter für den Aufgalopp der Gitarren kommt wie gerufen und zur richtigen Zeit, doch der Gedanke, dass sich ’Necrotic Reflection’ zu einem mitreißenden Groover entwickelt, wird schnell wieder eingeholt. Alles in allem kann ich konstatieren, dass auch im Doom Metal Bereich Perlen vvorhanden sind, die gehört werden müssen und den manchmal doch recht eintönigen Alltag eines Rezensenten zu beleben wissen. Wer an dieser Monsterscheibe vorbeigeht, dem ist nicht mehr zu helfen. Unbedingt reinhören, denn „Withered Shades“ wird euch umblasen und seine Wirkung auch beim zweiunddrölfsigsten Umlauf entfalten!

Author: RB