Metal Blade
2013
1. The Evangelist
2. Latent Lunacy
3. Daughters Of The Sea
4. Barren Lands
5. Violate & Create
6. Doomain
7. The King Of The Dead
8. A Diabolical Mind
9. Misfortune
2. Latent Lunacy
3. Daughters Of The Sea
4. Barren Lands
5. Violate & Create
6. Doomain
7. The King Of The Dead
8. A Diabolical Mind
9. Misfortune
I've always liked Memory Garden, but it's also pretty surprising when they actually put out something. Since Mirage in 2000 they've only been able to muster two albums so the band has kind of become an afterthought for me. Still, good music is good music and I like the band's approach to doom that incorporates some more upbeat and direct influence from power and straight up heavy metal. One can only hope that Doomain is worth another 5 year wait. Worth mentioning is that there is a limited edition with a whole lot of bonus material, but since it's limited and is pretty much made up of covers and old songs I won't dive into that here.
Listening to Doomain, one thing is for sure, and that is this band can open an album. The Evangelist's pounding rhythm and wails are heavy as fuck and damn epic. Seriously, this is one immediately likeable and damn near perfect doom song with a hint of power that brings to mind bands like Candlemass. If you don't like this song, I don't understand you.
One song does not an album make though and their last album Carnage Carnival started off similarly and then never quite lived up to the first track. Doomain fares much better however and the band is pretty on throughout the album. Latent Lunacy isn't quite as exciting and is bit more typical, but it's not a bad track at all and things get much more exciting quickly with Daughters Of The Sea. This one is another sure highlight which is fairly upbeat and features some nice, majestic sounding backing vocals and slow downs which add a nice level of complexity. We're not even close to done yet though as Barren Lands brings some backing death vocals to the mix which work surprisingly well for me considering I'm not the biggest fan of harsh vocals. They do provide a nice bit of variety here though and only add to the heaviness of this track. Then we have Violate & Create which starts off in ripping fashion, breaking from the doom mold a bit to add some good speed and some more variation to the experience.
From there out things aren't quite as exciting, but still pretty enjoyable. This is more a testament to the strength of tracks 1 to 5 than a knock at anything after it. The album remains solid with a couple more typical, but enjoyable doom tracks in Doomain and A Diabolical Mind, King Of The Dead which is a bit more aggressive. Misfortune is a bit of an instrumental outro and fairly forgettable, but ok for what it is.
Overall, this has some damn fine songs on it and everything holds up pretty well. The highlights are amazing and even the lesser tracks are good stuff. I'd recommend this to fans of bands like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus or anyone who likes their doom metal with epic, melodic wails and some more upbeat moments. Now, if the band would just release albums more often I'd be happy.
Highlights: The Evangelist, Daughters Of The Sea, Barren Lands, Violate & Create
Rating - 4.0/5
Listening to Doomain, one thing is for sure, and that is this band can open an album. The Evangelist's pounding rhythm and wails are heavy as fuck and damn epic. Seriously, this is one immediately likeable and damn near perfect doom song with a hint of power that brings to mind bands like Candlemass. If you don't like this song, I don't understand you.
One song does not an album make though and their last album Carnage Carnival started off similarly and then never quite lived up to the first track. Doomain fares much better however and the band is pretty on throughout the album. Latent Lunacy isn't quite as exciting and is bit more typical, but it's not a bad track at all and things get much more exciting quickly with Daughters Of The Sea. This one is another sure highlight which is fairly upbeat and features some nice, majestic sounding backing vocals and slow downs which add a nice level of complexity. We're not even close to done yet though as Barren Lands brings some backing death vocals to the mix which work surprisingly well for me considering I'm not the biggest fan of harsh vocals. They do provide a nice bit of variety here though and only add to the heaviness of this track. Then we have Violate & Create which starts off in ripping fashion, breaking from the doom mold a bit to add some good speed and some more variation to the experience.
From there out things aren't quite as exciting, but still pretty enjoyable. This is more a testament to the strength of tracks 1 to 5 than a knock at anything after it. The album remains solid with a couple more typical, but enjoyable doom tracks in Doomain and A Diabolical Mind, King Of The Dead which is a bit more aggressive. Misfortune is a bit of an instrumental outro and fairly forgettable, but ok for what it is.
Overall, this has some damn fine songs on it and everything holds up pretty well. The highlights are amazing and even the lesser tracks are good stuff. I'd recommend this to fans of bands like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus or anyone who likes their doom metal with epic, melodic wails and some more upbeat moments. Now, if the band would just release albums more often I'd be happy.
Highlights: The Evangelist, Daughters Of The Sea, Barren Lands, Violate & Create
Rating - 4.0/5
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