Albez Duz - Albez Duz

It has been two years since the release of Albez Duz's debut album- a short lived spectacle- formed between Lars Karding and Impurus of Dies After. Unfortunately, Lars (on vocals) died earlier in 2011 due to cancer, and the future of Albez Duz remains uncertain. However, those who like Gothic Doom Rock will do well to check this S/T album out because it is an excellent tribute to what Lars was capable of throughout his life. For one thing, the album builds on the slow, repetitive tones of Gothic Doom Metal along the lines of bands like Draconian or even My Dying Bride, but there are no growls involved. While Impurus slowly strums away and beats on the kit, Lars usually just has this monotone drone, almost like he's reciting poetry; consider him a more depressed version of Peter Steele of Type O Negative. On a track like "Missa Lunaris" the focus is certainly more on the vocals as the instruments are rather static in their performance, usually reciting the same four riffs over and over with the drums on autopilot. The result is certainly hypnotic, but also can be a bit boring for those who cannot stand long tracks or are used to bands in the genres similar to Funeral Doom Metal.

On other tracks like "Rev. In Blood" things seem to get a bit heavier. The music structure is still pretty much the same, although the guitar melodies are a bit more present with faster drum patterns, but the vocals have more of that 'growling' edge to them that most fans associate with Doom Metal. With a thicker atmosphere and gritty tones, the feeling of 'occult' is certainly there and the music sounds even stronger, even though when the vocals are growling for some reason they feel more faded out so they aren't as audible. This seems to be the only main issue with the album: audibility. Whether Lars isn't moaning his heart (or snarling it a bit), sometimes he can get a bit off key with the  music, either going too slow or too fast to keep up such as on "Going Nowhere." Thankfully, the keyboard additions make up to keep the music interesting, as well as on the sole instrumental "Leichenhain" which starts out as a raging maelstrom that will appeal to fans of My Dying Bride's early work up to the point where suddenly it passes and it is just single string melodies, which adds to the beauty of the album overall.

One can also hear a bit of mid era Paradise Lost within the music as well on the Black Widow cover. Here, Lars shows off his best singing yet as opposed to recitings, and the lively sound of the piano mixed with faded backing choruses and an upbeat 80s guitar tone might very well make this the highlight of the album. After a begrudging haze of repetitive Doom, this will be a welcome sound in the earhole to naysayers who feel that Albez Duz is too one sided. While this experience may be a one time gem, one can always remember Lars through the headphones with this one. Hats off to both him and Impurus for creating both tragedy and heroism in one disc with the monotonous stories told in 'Albez Duz.' Again, the music is a bit specialized and not as accessible for everyone across Metal genres, but the somewhat laid back tone of the music should make it inviting enough.

  1. Missa Lunaris
  2. Rev. In Blood
  3. Redeemer
  4. Going Nowhere
  5. Leichenhain
  6. Attack Of The Demon (cover Black Widow)