GÉVAUDAN ~ UMBRA ... review

 

Doom, strange name for a genre of music, the word suggests the end or destruction of something but doom is far from being destroyed or coming to end in fact it seems to be finding more and more ways to evolve and adapt as time goes by, even finding a foothold in some forms of electronic music. Do not however start to panic that we are about to break down the tracks of some dark electronica release, the subject of today's review comes from a British outfit going by the name Gévaudan who have their boots firmly planted in sacred soil at the more traditional end of the doom spectrum. Gévaudan have opted, with their latest release "Umbra",(Meuse Music Records) not to go down the route of six or seven individual tracks but instead give us one epic song full of dynamic twists and turns, its big. its bold and its damn impressive!

Being a one song piece stretched out over forty three minutes it is not surprising that Gévaudan's "Umbra" is structured much like a classical music piece, reliant on a series of atmospheric movements and differing dynamics so as not to become stuck in a musical cul-de-sac. The mood throughout "Umbra" is sombre and melancholic so many of those dynamics tend to be of the darker danker variety but that is not to say that there are not some truly spectacular highs to be found here, its just that those highs are tempered by Gévaudan's predilection for delivering their music mostly low slow and heavy. Vocals for the most part are delivered in a rich baritone, reminiscent in some ways of the dramatic tones that once graced albums by Reverend Bizarre, but do also regularly soar into higher climes as and when the music surrounding them dictates. Musically the band are right on the money able to lay out languid and lithe on the songs quieter passages and crunch, thrum and pound on its heavier sections, a mixture of solid tight and loose rhythms, low liquid bass and swirling dark guitar textures the brushes with which Gévaudan paint what many may consider (us included) to be somewhat of a doomic masterpiece.

To release an album consisting of one epic song is a brave move, especially when you consider that many of today's listeners have the attention span of a gnat, but Gévaudan seemed to have managed to pull it off. "Umbra", is an album that demands to be listened to from its very first note to its last and will richly reward you for doing so.

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