Fatum Elisum "Fatum Elisum" CD

There have only been a few bands to attempt to combine the sounds of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride and Fatum Elisum are easily the best. Taking the rawest bits from both bands' more primal periods and forging them into their own sound, we get an intensely unique, yet strangely familiar sound. Slow, heavy guitar dirges blend darkness and melancholy seamlessly. The low-tuned guitars growl and moan their way through this epic ode to pain. Droning harmonies mix with clean and distorted passages accented by plenty of leads to keep things interesting. In keeping with their forefathers' blueprints, there are some decent death metal bits strewn throughout the album.
Thankfully there aren't any keyboards or female vocals; instead we're given a traditional five piece band who know how to rock their asses off. If there are any drawbacks to this album, it would be the vocals. They're awesome when growling and even shouting, but the wailing "I'm being raped" cries of bitchiness detract from the songs. Ataraxie has this same problem - perhaps it's a French thing (?). The drums are very much in the MDB vein and while not as creative as their inspiration would have you believe, they do get the job done.
There is a lot of agony in this music and while they do tread some familiar ground, despite their influences they do have an original hopelessness to their writing. These songs reek of perfect despair, yet lack My Dying Bride's poetic romanticism and Paradise Lost's divine hatred; they create a new kind of misery in their morose tunes.
This is a band that has a lot of potential. Being one of a handful of doom bands in the black metal hot bed that is France says a lot to their conviction. This is one to catch if you like your doom heavy!

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...