Cemetery Fog - Towards the Gates

Cemetery Fog - Towards the Gates (Terror From Hell, 2015)

CEMETERY FOG, what a simple yet effective and very fitting name!

This miniCD starts with the haunting “Intro”, which contains some nostalgic broken piano sounds. It’s like waking up in the night and you suddenly hear someone playing piano in your basement. It gives you the creeps, before the first actual song “Withered Dreams of Death”, which starts with a simple, doom-paced Abysmal Grief-style riffing, only to  then slow it even more down and varied with organs, think of Skepticism. A catchy and effective song where slow pace is mixed with even slower ones and the lethal keyboards contribute a lot to the atmosphere. It is indeed like walking in the cemetery on a foggy night. Vocals are mostly enjoyable growls with a few shrieks, maybe not that crazy as in Unholy, but close.

Anyway, the drums are that gives this slow music vitality. “Embrace of Darkness” has also acoustics, piano and some veiling vocals, mixing mellow parts with doom/death riffs.  “Shadow of her Tomb” is the 3rd real track throwing in some Autopsy, (early) Sabbath, (early) Paradise Lost, (early) Cathedral, growls and some female vocals, don’t think anything cheesy though. Then comes the outro with acoustics and field recordings (?) and the walk in the cemetery is over. It’s up to you to decide rather you play again this almost 30 min EP, or you rather put on some old Cathedral, Winter, or Unholy, but keep an eye on these Finnish, they play their doom/death solid. If you already whistling all the classic doom/death tunes and you made your lessons also with younger ones like Abysmal Grief, Hooded Menace, Coffins, give it a try.

rating: 7/10

by Rob

2015 November