Shattered Hope - Vespers (CD) Digipak

Review
Mournful Sounds
05.03.2021

E’ un dato di fatto quello che, salvo rare eccezioni, molti gruppi funeral death doom non brillino per prolificità e i greci Shattered Hope confermano questa tendenza pubblicando il loro terzo album Vespers a dieci anni dal primo, Abscence, e sei dal secondo, Waters Of Lethe.

Queste considerazioni di carattere puramente statistico passano in secondo piano allorché appare manifesto il valore del nuovo lavoro come accade in questo caso. Infatti, pur nella sporadicità delle uscite la band guidata da Nick e Sakis Thanasis ha mostrato nel tempo una progressione importante che l’ha portata oggi a raggiungere il picco della loro già ottima discografia. Per fare questo gli ateniesi non reinventano la ruota ma accentuano nel loro sound le due componenti opposte cosicché Vespers è allo stesso tempo robusto e potente, impressione rafforzata dalla rinuncia alle tastiere rispetto al passato, così come ricco di squarci di melodica e indimenticabile malinconia: se poi aggiungiamo al pacchetto una prestazione della band eccellente e adeguatamente supportata da una produzione ideale il cerchio si chiude.

Cinque lunghi brani, per una durata complessiva superiore all’ora, trasportano l’ascoltatore in un vortice di sensazioni contrastanti in quanto ora sono le rabbiose accelerazioni che si alternano ai mortiferi rallentamenti di In Cold Blood, ora le melodie struggenti che aprono Verge e si intersecano con sfuriate di matrice black, all’interno di una traccia che alla faccia di chi sostiene che il genere sia monotono, cambia umori e ritmi quattro o cinque volte; il brano centrale Syrigmós sposta il sound su un piano parzialmente fuori dagli schemi, con un approccio obliquo al genere che non smarrisce mai la sua impronta melodica, e le reminiscenze dei My Dying Bride che il suono del violino porta sempre e comunque con sé, vengono stemperate da una scrittura ugualmente drammatica e personale nell’emotivamente incontenibile Towards The Land Of Deception.

La funerea limpidezza di The Judas Tree arricchita non solo dal violino ma anche dal particolare timbro della lira, oltre che da un sempre efficace lavoro chitarristico, apre nel migliore dei modi un 2021che si preannuncia ugualmente disgraziato per quanto riguarda ogni aspetto della nostra vita ma non per la musica che amiamo.

Review
Rockway.gr
27.10.2020

Ένα περίπου χρόνο πριν την κυκλοφορία του “Vespers”, οι λατρεμένοι Shattered Hope πατούσαν την σκηνή του Temple Athens κατά τη διάρκεια του The Room Of Doom Fest II. Υπό τους ήχους των πένθιμων κιθάρων, ο Νίκος (φωνητικά, στίχοι) απαγγέλει Καζαντζάκη και το venue παγώνει, ανατριχιάζει. Η μπάντα έχει την αμέριστη προσοχή του κόσμου, ενώ έχει ενημερώσει πριν ακουστεί ο “Συριγμός” πως αυτό είναι ένα τραγούδι από το νέο album. Εκείνη την αξέχαστη στιγμή, ήξερα πως εκείνο το “νέο album” θα είναι ίσως η πιο ιδιαίτερη στιγμή της μπάντας και μια από τις πιο δυνατές στιγμές της χρονιάς που θα κυκλοφορήσει.
Και δεν έπεσα έξω.

Μετά από τα δύο κομψοτεχνήματα του doom/death – funeral doom ήχου παγκοσμίως, το ντεμπούτο “Absence” και το ακόμα πιο σκοτεινό “Waters Of Lethe”, η Θρυμματισμένη Ελπίδα σπάει σε ακόμα περισσότερα κομμάτια, κομμάτια που αν η ψυχή τα ακολουθήσει τυφλά και τα συλλέξει όλα με κάθε ακρόαση, θα βιώσει πραγματικά την σημασία του “Vespers”.

Το τρίτο album των Αθηναίων είναι με διαφορά η πιο ώριμη δισκογραφική τους κατάθεση. Τα funeral ψήγματα των τελευταίων δέκα ετών έχουν υποχωρήσει, δίνοντας χώρο στις κιθάρες να αναπνεύσουν σκοτεινό, θλιμμένο και ταυτόχρονα πιο σκληρό αέρα. Χωρίς ο ήχος τους να κάνει βήματα πίσω, η doom/death αίσθηση του “Vespers” έχει μια υπέροχη ‘90s υγρασία που κάποτε νιώθαμε στους My Dying Bride και κοκκαλώναμε στη θέση μας – αυτή, αυτή ακριβώς η αίσθηση, αν την έχεις ζήσει, είναι τόσο έντονη σε τούτο εδώ το πόνημα.

Το ταξίδι των πέντε δεκατριάλεπτων (κατά μέσο όρο) Εσπερινών, ξεκινά με το “In Cold Blood” το οποίο τιμά το όνομά του: με ηχητικά χαστούκια δηλώνουν τι άλλαξε στο παιχνίδι, με τα ριφ του Θάνου και του Σάκη να αγγίζουν θεούς και δαίμονες, το μπάσο του Θανάση να οργώνει και τα τύμπανα του Γιάννη Φιλιππαίου (Decemberance, που κάθεται για πρώτη φορά στο σκαμνί των SH) να φέρνουν την βροντή πολύ πριν δεις την αστραπή.

Το “Verge” που ακολουθεί, δείχνει περίτρανα το εύρος στον καμβά της μπάντας. Με καλεσμένο τον Wrath (Dodsferd) να μοιράζεται τα φωνητικά με τον Νίκο, το τραγούδι παντρεύει την doom καταγωγή του με πολύ πιο εναλλακτικά ριφ και περάσματα μαυρομεταλλικής διάθεσης που φέρνουν στο μυαλό τους Primordial αλλά και Slayer-ικές γέφυρες και solos που σφάζουν στο γόνατο.

“Να λευτερωθείς από ένα πάθος, υπακούοντας σ΄ένα άλλο υψηλότερο…μα μήπως κι αυτό δεν είναι σκλαβιά;”

Στον “Συριγμό”, ο Νίκος (Βλαχάκης) απαγγέλει Νίκο (Καζαντζάκη) μέχρι να μας χαστουκίσει με ένα από τα πιο πονεμένα του growls. Ο Νίκος ήταν και είναι μια απο τις αγαπημένες μου φωνές του χώρου και με τη χρήση καθαρών φωνητικών και spoken word στο “Vespers” αποδεικνύει την παιδεία του και με κάνει να θέλω να τον ακούσω και σε ένα SH album “καθαρό”, στο δικό τους “The Angel And The Dark River” ας πούμε, γιατί κάθε μορφή που σχηματίζει το συναίσθημα της ερμηνείας και των στίχων του είναι υπέροχη (μη χάσετε την ευκαιρία να τους απολαύσετε ζωντανά επί σκηνής για να έχετε ολόκληρη την εικόνα σε αυτό που μόλις περιέγραψα).

Το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο του album, που αποτελείται από δύο τραγούδια, είναι και η (καθ)οριστική κάθοδος στην καρδιά του δημιουργήματος που, αν αφεθείς σε αυτό, ουσιαστικά σε φέρνει σε επαφή με τη δική σου καρδιά, με τις δικές σου τύψεις, σκέψεις και συναισθήματα: το “Towards The Land Of Deception” μας συστήνει με τον λυράρη Κώστα Πετράκη, ο οποίος με το παίξιμό του αλλάζει και πάλι το doom τοπίο με χρώματα πιο παραδοσιακά, χωρίς να χάνεται το ατελείωτο γκρι του ορίζοντα.

Η λύρα συνεχίζεται και στον δεκαπεντάλεπτο επίλογο “The Judas Tree”, το πιο κορυφαίο κλείσιμο που έχουν κάνει ποτέ σε album οι SH (και μιλάμε για μπάντα που ειδικεύεται σε υπέροχα κλεισίματα όπως τα “The Utter Void” και “Here’s To Death”) χαρίζοντάς μας έτσι ένα από τα πιο όμορφα τραγούδια που έχουν γράψει ποτέ – και σίγουρα, το δικό μου πιο αγαπημένο από όλες τους τις δουλειές μέχρι σήμερα.

Στιχουργικά, μουσικά, εκτελεστικά, αισθητικά (εξώφυλλο που μπορείς να το χαζεύεις για ώρες, χωρίς υπερβολή), οι Shattered Hope έκαναν το βήμα που, αν ζούμε σε έναν δίκαιο κόσμο, θα πρέπει να τους χαρίσει την αναγνώριση που αξίζουν παγκοσμίως, βάζοντάς τους σε μια υψηλή θέση στο doom/death πάνθεον.

Σίγουρα, το “Vespers” τους βάζει στις top λίστες των extreme albums του 2020 – και ακόμα πιο βαθιά στην καρδιά μας.

Author: Σπύρος Χονδρογιάννης

Review
Brutalism
3/5
23.11.2020

Shattered Hope are no strangers to funeral doom with touches of death metal, but on their third full length effort “Verspers,” it feels they’ve lost their way a bit. Their debut back in 2010 was a crushingly melancholic effort that was gorgeous and haunting, and their second effort was pretty close, but here it feels they’ve stumbled a little. Maybe it is the lack of atmosphere and the crushing, but with the opening ‘In Cold Blood’ these Greeks seem to have gone more of the traditional death doom route. The crushing riffs are still there with the backing choir like keyboards, but the rather plodding pace with short riffs make it feel more like a cleaner slow paced Dismember track than the Shattered Hope many know. The vocals are evil and just as haunting still, which is great, but sound more pushed into the back so they are harder to hear. There is also more use of clean singing on a track like the title track but for some reason the mournful wails seem to clash with the overall atmosphere versus the spoken word tones on some of the other tracks or what they have done in the past.
It isn’t until ‘Συριγμός’ till things get back on track for those who know Shattered Hope. The guitars finally find their right level of mournful while keeping up with the epic pace and only repeat for a few seconds versus what feels like an entire minute. The harsh vocals are more prominent and pushed up into the mix and when layered with the haunting echos of the cleans, the entire atmosphere of funeral doom is back. Gone is the whiny gothic doom that sounds like the worse parts of My Dying Bride that were heard on ‘Verge.’ Although they come back a bit on the closing ‘Judas Tree,’ somehow with the guitar tones and pace they seem to work much better versus the faster death doom pace. The other more spoken and softer clean vocals are here too along with the plodding drums so there is a whole lot going on here, making it one of the top choices of tracks for the album.

Like most funeral doom albums, “Vespers” lacks a large number of tracks, but makes up for it with epics. Not one song is shorter than 10 minutes, so those who are not a fan of doom that feels like it drags one down forever may not quite enjoy this, but for those who like long melancholies will feel right at home. Ultimately, the last 3 tracks are probably the most worth hearing to really get the experience of Shattered Hope at their best. The first two tracks, while faster and heavier in a different way, just don’t really feel like the group with what they’ve laid down so far in the past. The funeral doom side of things mixed with a little gothic doom atmosphere serves them much better than the death doom side.

Author: Colin McNamara

Review
All Around Metal
3.5/5
08.11.2020

Quasi vent'anni di carriera, dieci anni di sodalizio con Solitude Productions: è con questi numeri che i greci Shattered Hope si presentano all'appuntamento con il loro terzo album, "Vespers", appena rilasciato dalla label russa. E per gli amanti delle sonorità più funeree con atmosfere cupe e disperate sporcate da ruvidi passaggi Death Metal, questa terza fatica della band ateniese potrebbe benissimo essere un'uscita imperdibile: un'ora o poco più di musica oscura, pesante come un macigno, in cui troviamo le caratteristiche che hanno contraddistinto gli Shattered Hope anche nei due precedenti lavori grazie ad un sound che paga dazio a gruppi come Saturnus e Mourning Beloveth, piuttosto che Ahab e Shape of Despair - da questi ultimi possiamo dire derivino i passaggi più atmosferici della band greca-. Un lavoro, questo "Vespers", che da un lato sembra scritto dagli Shattered Hope con il pilota automatico inserito, eppure non primo della triste fascinazione che il genere porta con sé; nei cinque lunghissimi brani che compongono la tracklist la band greca non si concede il minimo cal d'intensità, restando concentrata dalla prima all'ultima nota: va dato merito per questo all'ottimo lavoro svolto dalle due asce, Sakis e Thanos, capaci di dialogare sapientemente e di portare su di loro la massima attenzione; a loro il merito di dare alla bellissima "Verge" quell'aria di sognante malinconia che rende questo il brano meglio riuscito del lotto. Saggia sembra poi essere la scelta della madrelingua per "Συριγμός", che quasi sembra dare quel "tocco da Tragedia Greca" che sarà, a fine ascolto, un bonus in più per l'opera.
Trascinati dall'espressiva teatralità della voce di Nick, gli Shattered Hope si dimostrano ancora una volta tra le realtà più interessanti nell'ambito di questo genere funereo e pesante; grazie al buon uso di atmosfere sì malinconiche ma che sanno dare maggior respiro alle composizioni, i Nostri riescono nell'intento di tirare fuori un lavoro scevro da sensazioni opprimenti e claustrofobiche, pur portando l'ascoltatore in un mondo popolato dalla più cupa disperazione.

Author: Daniele Ogre

Review
Metal Temple
8/10
07.10.2020

SHATTERED HOPE is a Funeral Doom/Death Metal band, formed in Athens, Greece in 2002. They were not able to get an album released until 2010, however. “Vespers” is the band’s third release, and contains five tracks. “In Cold Blood” leads off the album. It’s a 13-minute beast, opening with a heavy, dark riff that moves slowly. The vocals are harsh utterances…guttural at times. It breaks two minutes in, for a slow and ambient passage that is actually quite pretty, but also sinister at the same time. From that point, it rages with despair…with lead guitar and bass taking the melody, and the vocals become vile and raging. It ends very slowly, with accented guitar strikes.

“Verge” is 12-minutes in length, opening with a slightly hopeful tone in the guitar riff. Clean and harsh vocals are used here, giving the song some extra effects. It lumbers forward, complete with a guitar solo at one point. Following the solo, the vocals are extra harsh and lamenting. As it closes, the screams heighten as does your sense of the world soon to be ending. “Συριγμός” opens with clean guitar notes and the tone is very solemn. Drums roll in quietly, and some background ambiance begins to build. The vocals are at first spoken words…I can’t quite make them out but they foretell the doom that is about to come. The main riff drops and the vocals are both harsh and with chanted cleans at the same time. Darkness takes root and does not let you out of its grip.

“Towards the Land of Deception” opens with some background ambiance that is nefarious and evil. Light strings echo in the darkness. The main riff comes in slow, and the vocals are low guttural utterances that sound like they come from the bowels of the earth below. The strings continue on, seeming out of place, like they play as you watch the Chernobyl disaster unfold in front of your eyes. “The Judas Tree” closes the album, and it’s a 15-minute opus. Seguing from the previous track, there is a long fade-in of doleful strings leading to the main riff around the two-minute mark. The vocals are horridly harsh, and landscape gets more barren as the song continues. Some clean guitars and vocals come into play, offering just a glimmer of hope, that is soon dashed by the vile nature of the vocals to come. The guitars become thicker after the half-way mark, dragging you down into the swamp of your fate.

Overall, the depth of despair here was noteworthy. Through just five lengthy tracks, the band was able to portray your doom as both things that you can see and things that you can only begin to comprehend. This is the kind of doom that seeps into your very soul, and slowly, over years, blackens your mind and your heart as you become totally numb to the outside world and retreat within yourself completely. The end is near, and “Vespers” brings that feeling with a burning cold.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 7
Memorability: 8
Production: 8

Author: Dave "That Metal Guy" Campbell