Oh boy, did I wait for this, the debut album of The Blood Divine back in 1996! Featuring Anathema's ex-vocalist Darren White with a bunch of Cradle Of Filth guys and other familiar musicians from English doom/goth scene, my expectations were very high.

And as it happens when the expectations are very high... They come crashing down. 'So Serene' includes a very atmospheric opening indeed, but when the band hits in, they bring in more earthly mood. 'So Serene' is a fine long, growing and pretty trippy song (more old prog rock than anything metal), showing the band's best sides. 'Moonlight Adorns' is certainly catchy, but I find the melodies annoying, an its keyboard work is very 1960s, kind of The Doors style. 'Visions...' is a moody ambient interlude, and while it's a short one, it begins to feel, that the album is compiled from a bit too many pieces. 'Wilderness' mixes doomy heavy metal and prog rock of the yore in an effective way, ending up being some of the finest the band ever came up with and this was the sound of them. 'These Deepest Feelings' is just vocals (Darren and Anathema guest Ruth) plus acoustic guitars in a very English way. What did I just mentioned about the incoherence of 'Awaken'?! 'Aureole' with its horror synths is like more rock influenced Cradle Of Filth and another bloody interlude, 'Oceans Rise', is a goth piece reminding me of the aforementioned band. 'Artemis' is more doomy, nodding towards Anathema with similar guitar feedback. 'In Crimson Dreams' begins as a doomy nursery rhyme and mutates into epic metal. 'Heart of Ebony' is a slice of epic doomy heavy metal, and one of the highlights, easily. Beautiful sounding Ruth stars on 'Warm Summer Rain', which is equally as beautiful calm song. This one will wet any goth, sort of. The Blood Divine tried to sound themslves by mixing traditional English doom/gothic metal with prog rock and 1960s influences, and partly succeeded in their aim, too. 'Awaken' includes some very tasty pieces, but sadly also some awful stuff that I simply can't get into. While the music flows intuitively, the album ended up being patchy as hell.

Soundwise this is quite troublesome. There is huge low end and pretty sharp trebly levels, but they are too quiet in the mix (e.g. hi-hat is hushed). The balance is definitely too much towards bassy levels. Synth-work is partly awesome, especially those ambient soundscapes, but then there's suddenly lame cheapish sounding tinklings and preset sounds. The vocals are varying, too. Emotions from hate to agony (some sobbing vocals are heard, but they aren't annoying as on some Misanthrope abums, if you know what I mean) are finely portrayed. Mr. White opened up his soul fully. Other musicians handle their jobs well enough, without need for any special mentions.

'Awaken' can be warmly recommended for the fans of 1990s English doom/goth metal, especially Anathema, Cradle Of Filth and My Dying Bride lovers should try this. There might be a plenty of stuff for you, believe me. I myself own some albums from all the aforemetioned bands, but I don't like the patchiness of 'Awaken'. But, it's the English spirit, that soothes my soul. One day I probably will grieve for its disappearance from metal music scene. Hopefully not. 'Awaken' isn't nowhere near the album I expected it to be, though.

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
06/22/2008 12:23