ESTATIC FEAR — A Sombre Dance (review)

ESTATIC FEAR — A Sombre Dance album cover Album · 1999 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
SilentScream213
Estatic Fear released just two masterpiece albums in their short career, both of them lush with folky acoustic passages, flutes and strings mixed in with crushing Doom/Death Doom. A Sombre Dance features one long suite split up into much shorter tracks (as opposed to the first album, which featured two primary tracks totaling over 50 minutes). The shorter tracks make for a much more digestible album, and the Dark Folk passages are intelligently mixed into the songs rather than being cut into quick interlude tracks.

This album features more clean female vocals, and more Neoclassical Darkwave keywork which gives it a slightly Gothic flavor. The Death Doom is still as strong as ever, driven by liberal double bass drumming and tremolo lead guitars. A great variety in power, heaviness, and speed across even individual tracks makes it an incredible joy to listen to (despite how sombre and melancholic it is). Insecure listeners beware, for what one might call “cheese” permeates every corner, as a fantastical, dramatic showing is the name of the game for this Doom album.

And yet, to me, “cheesy” would be the wrong word. How about “classy”? The strings and melodrama here sound nothing of Power Metal or regular Symphonic Metal taste; rather, it evokes true Classical moods and compositions somewhere between the Medieval era and the Baroque era. Basically, unless you want to call Classical Music cheesy, there’s really nothing cheesy about this! Put on your best palace suit or dress and get ready to attend this funeral in a fairytale garden.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rise of the Black Fang Metalcore
KILLGRAVE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Die for Us Technical Death Metal
WEREWOLVES
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 4 hours ago
FireFlame - The Last Ride (Official Video)
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 4 hours ago
Fervence - Hezekiah (Official Music Video)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 4 hours ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 5 hours ago
Fervence - Corrosion (Visualizer)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 5 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed