Drowning The Light

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Band(s): Drowning The Light
Label(s): Iron Bonehead Productions
Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, Re-Release
Release Year: 2023
Review Date: March 31, 2023
Author(s): FelixS

In a long series of vinyl reissues of the impressive Drowning The Light back catalogue, Iron Bonehead Productions also added ‘Oceans Of Eternity’ to its list. Originally released in 2013, ‘Oceans Of Eternity’ is Drowning The Light’s twelfth album in an equal amount of years. With his working pace, the ever-prolific Azgorh never really disappointed, even up till today he is cranking out one release after another, something that is not unique in itself, but the quality with which he assails his musical followers is of a different order.

That he is indeed cut from a different cloth is evident when you look at how good and unique the music he made in the early years of his career with Drowning The Light actually is. Although all the individual elements can be found in just about any Black Metal album, the feeling and atmosphere he conjures up is easily recognisable from thousands. And so is ‘Oceans Of Eternity’, this is an album on which the band sounds a bit fiercer, the riffs and Azgorh’s signature vocals are icy and razor-sharp with the tempo also being on the high side and the keyboards/Dungeon Synth elements playing a somewhat less dominant role. You could call it a slightly more standard Black Metal album, one where the often somewhat mournful atmosphere that characterizes most of Drowning The Light’s work comes out a little less strongly. It is clear that the riffs have been given the most prominent role on ‘Oceans Of Eternity’, something that certainly gives the album a memorable place in the band’s extensive discography.

Of course, there are some moments built into the album to get a bit of a breather, Drowning The Light is not a band that will (continue to) press the accelerator at full throttle. For instance, ‘Cataclysmic Cycle Of Renewal’ ends with beautiful guitar strumming, which passes into the more mid-tempo oriented and compelling ‘Oppression & Tyranny’. We hear that same strumming again later on ‘Drifting Away In A Sea Of Sorrow (Part II)’ and offers the same kind of moment to catch your breath. It is also these moments that give you a reminder of the band’s somewhat calmer and mellower sides. This is offset by a lot rougher vocals, which even verge on shouting, a nice contrast.

The more than three quarters of an hour of the album pass by without you even noticing, and as with almost of the Drowning The Light albums, ‘Oceans Of Eternity’ forms a wonderfully homogeneous whole, but one where particular attention has been paid to both the epic and the sharp side of the band. Certainly one of the band’s most “standard” (or “classic”, if you prefer) Black Metal albums, but that makes it is not a crazy choice to listen to if you are not yet familiar with the band.

VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

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Drowning The Light – Oceans Of Eternity [Re-Release]

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