Limb like to play it heavy and loud and sometimes quite harsh and on this, their debut album they have used that idea to pummel our senses over the course of ten songs. These are songs steeped in the occult and the dark side and are imbued with a classic vein of metal throughout. So why is it so dull?
It's difficult to tell really. After 'Twelve Ghosts' passes you by and you realise that you are halfway through a plodding 'Daemoness' you start to wonder where the inspiration is going to come from. After all on paper they should be providing the requisite thrills by now, it's just not happening.
'Eternal Psalm pt. 1' lifts things up with a decent run of chord changes and some more interesting melodies surfacing (albeit hidden far beneath the sludge). This is followed by the in your face 'Eternal Psalm pt. 2' which throws some hardcore slices at you as you duck to avoid the screams coming your way. A tempo change sets your heart racing and at last Limb reach some sort of epiphany.
'Night and Void' is classic stoner with its repetitive riff lulling your head along and forms a neat part of the album. The same can be said for 'Gift of the Sun' but then we hit a dip and slide into dull territory again. Maybe it's the sameness throughout or maybe it's just that the songs aren't strong enough.
Which is probably doing an injustice to the band in some respects as you can seem what they are trying to achieve. With 'LXXXVI', the even shorter 'Never Speak Ill Of The Dead' and final song 'Vathek' they are reaching out to some long lost classical prog metal sound which was rife in the 70's. The addition of a more contemporary feel to the music sort of interrupts this and the whole thing becomes rather harsh.
There are some good bits on this album and if harsh doom or stoner is your thing then you may like this a lot. If you're looking for something more classic then it all may get a bit too much. Dull with some interesting bits.
