As their name suggests, Greek Shattered Hope aren't here to rock you. This Athenian sextet have been sowing seeds of doom since 2002. After two promotional releases, they unleashed their debut full length album 'Absence' in the summer of 2010.

'Absence' is an hour's worth of woe, divided into six longer songs and a shorter instrumental song. It tells a tale of loss of love through lies. The music balances from very heavy to more airy and melodic. The production is heavy, but also echoing, and organic. It adds to heaviness of the music for sure. 'Amidst Nocturnal Silence' is a monumental opener, which at first nods towards ye olde English masters of sorrow, especially My Dying Bride. Wistful guitars and synths are accompanied by low, grave voice and rhythm section providing sturdy backbone. At five-minute mark, all melody and levity is abandoned, as the song enters lethargic state, with distorted guitar work and broken rhythm patterns. It takes two minutes before the band gain solid beat again and go into more death metal territories. The ending of the song reminds of the band's countrymen Septic Flesh, thanks to elevated guitar sound, which comes as a relief after the song's visit to the abyss of a grave.

After the demanding opener, things get a tad more painless. 'Vital Lie' borrows heavily that Septic Flesh style guitar work, compounding it with English doom. Sweeping Mediterranean melodies meet sullen British spirit. The song is again multiparted, but works better, because the parts follow each other more fluidy. There are some nifty bits such as agitated, agonising shouting, and some sound effects. 'Enlighten The Darkness' follows similar path as the previous song. 'Yearn' is the first real mould-breaker, as it is a short "rocker". 'A Traitor's Kiss' takes thing back to things before 'Yearn'. Before the massive closer, there's a non-metal instrumental to give a breather. 'The Utter Void' is far more accessible than the opener, like a release with its alternating heavy and lighter parts.

Doom metal was never meant to be easily digestible, and in this Shattered Hope succeed. I'm not a close follower of this style, but still own some classics of the genre. For me, 'Absence' includes good moments, but also burdensome ones. In my opinion it repeats itself too much during its 63 minutes. I have lost loved ones through betrayal, but at the moment I'm pretty much healed from such lies, so maybe the timing was wrong for me?

Rating: 6- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/05/2011 12:58