Search - Shape of Despair :: Illusions Play

(4.5) Funereal art

METAzraeL | NV | 10/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the only Shape of Despair album I've heard. Basically, they're a solid funeral metal band. The songs are slow, minimalistic, and beautiful, in a metal way. The singer has a great death metal voice, and the reverb on it is brutal. On the second song and in certain parts of the others he does some clean singing, usually in conjunction with the female singer in the band. Normally I hate clean singing when it's mixed with metal, but the girl has a great voice that really goes with the sorrowful tone of the music. Actually, the only reason I gave this 4(.5) stars is because I think Pasi, the main singer, should sing more in the songs. He really has a great death voice. Of course, being a funeral band, there are the inevitable Evoken comparisons - I will do mine in reference to "Quietus." Whereas Evoken focuses on making bleak, crushingly slow funeral, SoD has more of a melancholic, warmly flowing style of funeral. When Pasi is singing, he hands-down beats the vocals on Quietus. On the other hand, the drumming is way better on Quietus; SoD has some pretty basic and boring drummming. But really, if you like funeral metal, you'll like this album."

Not their best, but still exquisite funeral doom.

Ben Stubbs | Australia | 05/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let's get something straight before I start. In my opinion, Shape of Despair is quite possibly the best band to come out in the last decade. Keep that in mind when reading a Shape of Despair review written by The Trickster. Back in 2001, I was rapidly losing interest in the modern metal scene, mainly due to constant clones appearing and mediocre releases from previously excellent bands. Then came Shape of Despair's "Angels in Distress" album. Not since My Dying Bride's "Turn Loose the Swans" had I heard such melancholic, beautiful, emotion inducing music. It reinvigorated my love of metal, and set off a temporary obsession with all things funeral doom. I tracked down the bands debut album "Shades of..." and found to my utter disbelief, that it was just as good, if not better! While listening to Shape of Despair, nothing else in the world matters to me. I am simply alone in those very moments, enraptured by the utter destitution and emotions of sorrow.



I have debated these feelings with others on many occasions now. Why is it that some of us find music filled with loss, despair, sorrow, darkness etc. to actually be uplifting? Anyway, that's a discussion for another time. Onto the review...

"Illusion's Play" contains 6 tracks and times in at over 60 minutes. This should give you some idea as to what you're in for here. Long epic tracks of funeral doom that contain heavy guitars, extremely slow drum beats, atmospheric keyboard work, and growled vocals. Things are a little different this time around though. The extraordinary female vocals of the last two releases have been reduced to a couple of appearances, which I find disappointing. Fortunately, they have added a couple of lengthy ambient string sections that are truly breathtaking. "Fragile Emptiness" is a departure for Shape of Despair that sounds more like something that Skepticism would create, although I find its repetitiveness a little distracting to an otherwise beautiful album.



"Still-Motion", "Curse Life" and "Entwined in Misery" are all classic Shape of Despair epics that make this album essential, even if it doesn't quite live up to the high standard set by their first two albums. If you've never heard the band, I'd start with "Angels of Distress", and finish with this one. There's a few mp3s on the bands website for you to have a listen. Now if only that Esoteric, Skepticism, Shape of Despair tour would come to Australia. Please?"