Summer may be near, but those who long for the darkness of winter can’t ignore the debut album Echoes of Eternal Night from Minneapolis-based U.S. funeral doom duo An Tóramh (Celtic for “The Wake”). Multi-instrumentalist Anthony Copertina Jr. (Goatwitch, Impermanent) joined forces in the beginning of 2024 with vocalist John Suffering (Chalice of Suffering, Solemn Echoes, Forever Falling, Impermanent) to explore the bleak abyss of hopelessness, fear and crushing emptiness.
Echoes of Eternal Night is a remarkable listening journey, consisting of seven long, drawn-out tracks. Copertina Jr. carves the darkness into even darker fragments with slow, heavy riffs and mournful guitars, crafting a haunting atmosphere that reveals human frailty and vulnerability. Vocalist Suffering delivers his lyrics like a swamp-dwelling demon, occasionally slipping into a dark, mysterious spoken-word style reminiscent of Byron Roberts from the British band Bal-Sagoth (active from 1993 to 2013). An Tóramh’s brand of funeral doom showcases a versatile creativity, enriched with ethereal synths and slow, melodic interludes that offer moments of haunting beauty amid the gloom.
We can’t help but wonder how this album would sound on a sunny summer beach (and we fully intend to find out). Echoes of Eternal Night feels like a never-ending solar eclipse, casting a kind of nuclear winter where only faint shadows remain in the suffocating darkness. An Tóramh paints a truly immersive sonic doom panorama, evoking comparisons to bands like Comatose Vigil and Shape of Despair. Echoes of Eternal Night is one of those funeral doom albums that grips you tightly and drags you into the infinite blackened realms of desolation and wretchedness.
