Cyclone Empire
2010
1. Isle Of Horror
2. The Riven Tree
3. Heroes Of The Atom Age (Interlude)
4. Bellwethers In Mist
5. Unforeseen
6. December (Interlude)
7. Lauernder Schmerz
8. Walking Through The Cloud
9. Leguano (Interlude)
10. Sojourner
11. The Flood And The Horses
12. Voyage Obsure
Mirror Of Deception aren't a band I'd count myself as a huge fan or follower of really, but I recalled reviewing their Shards album and thinking it was pretty decent so I decided to check this one out too. Shards was not a huge stand out for me, but it did strike me as decently executed epic sort of doom.
After listening to A Smouldering Fire I pretty much get the same impression. Not much seems to have changed for better or for worse. If you heard Shards than I'd predict your feelings towards this album will more or less be the same. This creeps along in typical doom fashion, but not in an overly slow way and focused more on soaring dirges than somber ones if that makes sense. The vocals are more towards the melodic end and the guitar whilst not uptempo is not so down tempo as to be totally droning. A lot of these songs do seem somewhat similar though and rarely break a predictable mold. Most of the tracks here I'd classify as pretty ok but also pretty standard. Occasionally the band does find a riff which has some standout qualities though like in Laurnder Schmerz, which is driven by a good energy lead.
I'd call this one another middle of the road release that will probably hold some appeal to fans of the (sub)genre, but it isn't likely to go much further than that. Still, if you like epic doom dirges you could do worse than checking this one out. The biggest problem I find here is the lack of standouts as one song tends to bleed into another. As an overall experience the listen isn't half bad though.
Highlights: Laurnder Schmerz, The Riven Tree
Rating - 3.0/5
2. The Riven Tree
3. Heroes Of The Atom Age (Interlude)
4. Bellwethers In Mist
5. Unforeseen
6. December (Interlude)
7. Lauernder Schmerz
8. Walking Through The Cloud
9. Leguano (Interlude)
10. Sojourner
11. The Flood And The Horses
12. Voyage Obsure
Mirror Of Deception aren't a band I'd count myself as a huge fan or follower of really, but I recalled reviewing their Shards album and thinking it was pretty decent so I decided to check this one out too. Shards was not a huge stand out for me, but it did strike me as decently executed epic sort of doom.
After listening to A Smouldering Fire I pretty much get the same impression. Not much seems to have changed for better or for worse. If you heard Shards than I'd predict your feelings towards this album will more or less be the same. This creeps along in typical doom fashion, but not in an overly slow way and focused more on soaring dirges than somber ones if that makes sense. The vocals are more towards the melodic end and the guitar whilst not uptempo is not so down tempo as to be totally droning. A lot of these songs do seem somewhat similar though and rarely break a predictable mold. Most of the tracks here I'd classify as pretty ok but also pretty standard. Occasionally the band does find a riff which has some standout qualities though like in Laurnder Schmerz, which is driven by a good energy lead.
I'd call this one another middle of the road release that will probably hold some appeal to fans of the (sub)genre, but it isn't likely to go much further than that. Still, if you like epic doom dirges you could do worse than checking this one out. The biggest problem I find here is the lack of standouts as one song tends to bleed into another. As an overall experience the listen isn't half bad though.
Highlights: Laurnder Schmerz, The Riven Tree
Rating - 3.0/5
