Released By : Nuclear Blast Records
Genre : Doom Metal, Heavy Metal
Links : http://whileheavenwept.com/home.html
Tracklist:
01. Hour Of Reprisal
02. Destroyer Of Solace
03. Obsessions Now Effigies
04. Unplentitude
05. To Grieve Forever
06. Saturn And Sacrifice
07. Finality
I’ve been sitting on this review for a little while now and I know I’m pretty late to it compared to a lot of other people, but there’s good reason for that. See, usually once I have finished reviewing something I move on quite quickly to the next thing as there’s always a ridiculous backlog of albums to get through, but every time I tried to get the review started for FEAR OF INFINITY I just wanted to listen to it one more time and I just simply wasn’t ready to shelve it. To put it in simple terms, this album totally blew me away in every aspect and is quickly becoming one of my favourite albums. The 37 minute playing time is simply perfect….just long enough to get the message across without overstaying its welcome, the overall production is epic, symphonic and bombastic without ever sounding too over the top or cheesy, the musicianship across the board is stunning and the songwriting in general is amazing.
There has been a few bands of late that have attempted to mix the traditional doom metal sound with other genres and styles, but honestly most of them just don’t work, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT however succeed in basically every aspect and while most of their previous work has been great, FEAR OF INFINITY builds upon their already unique foundation and comes out the other end sounding like a master work. There is a loose concept flowing through the album. It’s quite difficult to properly explain so I’ll just quote something that was said by one of the band’s main songwriters Tom Phillips…“Fear Of Infinity” begins with anger, evolves into depression, then ultimately reaches acceptance at the very end” . The lyrics are suitable deep and emotional, as all doom metal lyrics should be, but when they are vocalized in a way that draws from traditional heavy metal, power metal and progressive metal they really take on another meaning all together. The music itself could also easily be thrown closer toward the progressive metal side of things as there really is some incredibly virtuoistic performances on the album and the occasional odd time signature too.
From cover to cover this album is simply amazing, but there is one little tune here that’s under three minutes long that is easily my favourite metal song of the year so far. DESTROYER OF SOLACE is brilliant…. The verses have an odd sound that almost reminds me of SYSTEM OF A DOWN before exploding into of the most symphonic and bombastic choruses I’ve ever heard, then as the song comes to a close the crescendo kicks in and when the final lyric “you will atone” is sung it just sends shivers down my spine every time. The gloomy and stark piano based UNPLENTITUDE also chills me every time I hear it, with its sparse arrangement and superb vocals it’s easy to see why. The eleven minute closing epic FINALITY is also something truly special, great lyrics, slow and brooding doom sound and monstrous vocals.
I must say that I’m a little perplexed by the overall general rating of this album so far, I mean the music is interesting, the band have a unique sound and the album is performed and produced to a very, very high quality, now isn’t that just about all we can ask for these days?…Okay so if I wanted to get all hardcore music critic on you I could have made mention of the one or two times where the vocals feel a little pitchy or I could complain that the band hasn’t particularly progressed much since their previous album, but this are really tiny nuances when compared to the class of the full product and as a music fan I just have to say that FEAR OF INFINITY is one of the best albums you will hear this year and you need to go and get a copy of this one immediately.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating :10/10
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