A Monument In Doom
Tom Z | USA | 07/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While Heaven Wept pioneer a new sort of Doom metal. Its not like the growling, downtuned dirges of My Dying Bride, its not like the psychadelic ambiences of Black Sabbath, nor does it follow the strictly sombre moods of Anathema. So what does it sound like? I can't think of an immediate comparision, it contains of the elements of quite a few things though.
The music is very guitar driven, solos are ladden in most of the tracks. Quite heavy at times, quite soft at others. While Heaven Wept aren't afraid to have a more upbeat riff every now and then. Keyboards are prevalent in a few of the songs though they add to whats already there rather than take away. The songs would still be great without the keyboard prescence. Tom Philips has an amazing voice. He tends to stay in the upper range but doesn't go so high that he breaches the power metal range. Overall, I highly recommend this album. Unless you hate any band with a vocalist that sounds relatively human you'll probably love it."
IM SO HAPPY THAT THIS IS SO SAD!
Mud Bog | Cary, NC United States | 06/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I found this for dirt cheap at a chain store, following a local musician's advice. Not really knowing what to expect, I passed it in the store once, but later I picked it up. From the second I put it in my cd player I knew I was in for something special. My friends and I were all astonished at the majestiuc soundscape emenating from my broken car speakers. This was magical! For 4 days now I have listened to this cd over and over, and have researched the hell out of this band.
I had run across the name WHW in several thank you lists in cds by bands from the VA scene, most notably Twisted Tower Dire and Brave. Little did I know that guitarist/vocalist Tom Phillips has done time with both these bands as wells as had members from these bands on his project.
On to the review. Tom Phillips is an AMAZING singer. I can't believe he's not going to sing for them anymore (his band, like mine ShadowRealm, had somebody from Greece come to sing). With an ability akin to Messiah Marcolin and a voice like TTD's Tony Taylor (Phillips was TTD's original vocalist) he blew me away. This is SINGING! The instruments all play well with each other, and the mix is terrific.
Its only 43 minutes long, with 7 songs, most running at around seven minutes. Two of my favorite songs are the "covers", Voice in the Wind and Epistle no. 81. The former was written in 1974, and I can't remember who did it but I doubt its this good. Phillip's vocals really shine on this one, the most straight paced and simplest of the tunes. Epistle is a traditional tune, originally covered by the gods of doom metal, Candlemass. I feel that this version far surpases the Candlemass version, not because CM's version is bad, rather the sheer POWER in Phillips' voice carries this dirge to stratospheric heights.
In the many reviews of this cd i've read, it's been said this is a Doom Metal must have. I think it goes great in ANY kind of metal collection. It's definately become one of my favorites and I am rabidly hunting for mp3s of their other works. Oh yeah, this is the only cd you're likely to find. Their other eps are out of print and the only recent release with all of them together was on a Double LP. They are working on a new album and talking about re working their last cd release. Until then, Of Empires Forlorn will remain in near constant rotation."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1