Loss "Life Without Hope... Death Without Reason" CD

Reissue of the 2004 demo with two bonus tracks.
Released in a clear tray jewel case with 4 page b/w booklet.
Tracks 1 to 3 recorded, mixed & mastered at Woodcut Studios August / September 2004.
Tracks 4 and 5 recorded live @ The End, Nashville, TN, 11.6.2004. Special guest throat on 'Brave' by Lord Imperial von Krieg.

Within these two tracks are my favourite pieces of doom laid down on tape, beating Trouble, Disembowelment, Confessor and countless more. Without hyperbole this some of my favourite music period. Morbid, suicidal, bleak, depressing - I point to this as doom metal.
Most people shy away from demos because of the production. This is the least of worries on "Life Without Hope... Death Without Reason" as this demo has production which most 80s undeground bands didn't achieve. But it's not an overproduced whore, everything sits level with perhaps the standing out as audibly vocal and melodic. Skip past the forgettable but well named "Coffin Nails (Intromancy)" and there is a good 17 minutes of pure doom on what should have just been Loss's first EP (even more if you get the reissue).
The music here is described as death/doom, but edges closer to funeral doom. Taking the desolate nature of a band like Thergothon (minus the keyboards), Loss have added guttural vocals, forced out slowly over the funereal guitar tones. Rather than being malevolent or deranged, the vocals are subdued and whisper of a lethargic depression - an otherworldly reflection examining inner emptiness. Someone without hope. The drums remind me of Burning Witch's minimalist approach, there's no Disembowelment like blasting or rise in tempo required.
The highlight however is the genius way the riffs have been constructed. While so many boring sludge/doom and death/doom bands creep past with the same Sabbath rehashes, Loss are an atavistic neoclassical band. Built from contrapuntal guitar techniques and backed with melodic bass lines, the minor key elements of the music are elevated above the murky production. Both songs are perfectly weighted and retain the same qualities; "Conceptual Funeralism Unto The Final Act" builds the demo up to a mid point with more complex guitar interplay, and "Cut Up, Depressed And Alone" bringing it back down, just leaving an empty corpse on the floor. The second track in particular brings out Loss's clever ability to hide descending riffs in repetition.
This band is aptly named.

"All that's left is loneliness, there's nothing left to feel."

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