Embedded Files
GÖDEN "Vale Of The Fallen"
GÖDEN "Vale Of The Fallen"
By Dr. Abner Mality
GÖDEN, inheritors of the mantle of cult death/doom titans WINTER, have returned after a very quiet couple of years and oh my, what a weird record this is. On previous album "Beyond Darkness", GÖDEN's link to WINTER was indisputable, although clear differences were noted. With "Vale of the Fallen", the band is clearly its own animal and the resemblance to WINTER is pretty scant.
Cutting to the chase, this is just not HEAVY enough. This thick, tar-like riffing of WINTER and the last album is not really here....at least, not in the same way. There actually is a good amount of gloom and doom on "Urania", "Black Vortex" and especially "Death Magus", but the sound is a lot cleaner. We get cello now and then and the eerie keyboard sound of Tony Pinnisi is more prevalent. That sound has been present since the WINTER days and its otherworldly tone is top notch in creating a strange, arcane atmosphere.
The female vocals of Vas Kallas (on loan from Industrial fiends HANZEL AND GRETYL) are also distinctive. They are gruff, but not in a death metal way and her odd pronunciation adds another layer of weirdness...for example, listen to her croon "OOOO-RAAAH-TEEE-UHHH" on "Urantia" or the off the wall pronunciation of "magus" in "Death Magus"
Song selection and album layout is just goofy. "In the Vale of the Fallen" is unimpressive and not that heavy, but "Urantia" is hypnotically doomy and "Black Vortex" churns and rumbles. "Rings of Saturn" is an instrumental interlude that is so subdued it barely exists. "Death Magus" is by far the heaviest and most aggressive track and "Zero" is a repetitive plodding cut that approaches the industrial. The last 3 tracks are two weird spoken monologues and "Majestic Symphony", which has some heaviness but also plenty of cello and Vas' vocals are syrupy and melodic.
This whole thing works only sporadically. I can't fathom what's going on with the last 3 tracks and "Rings of Saturn" is just a waste of space. But it's certainly not a terrible album all around. One thing's for sure, don't look for much death/doom in classic WINTER fashion here.
Report abuse