Sorrowful Angels - Ship In Your Trip
After 10 years or more of being a band, the Greek/Polish Dark, Gothic and Doom Metal act, Sorrowful Angels have released their first album "Ship In Your Trip". From the outset, the band sounds very much like Paradise Lost. Not a bad thing in itself but it is a case of "I have heard it all before somewhere" with this album. The vocals of Kostas Katikos not only sounds like the Paradise Lost frontman but even vocal melodies seem to be directly borrowed from the British Doom giants.
Having gotten that off my chest, the band is still a worthly addition to your collection of morbid, dark and melancholic Doom Metal bands. The musicianship is excellent throughout and the production plus artwork is great. The songs walk a fine line between classic Doom Metal and commercial Gothic Metal, so much so they could easily fit into any MTV or VH1 video playlist. That might be considered a negative comment depending on where you stand on such issues. Highlights include "Second Life", "Ship In Your Trip" and "Red Sunrise" which is a somewhat different version to Paradise Lost’s "Erase" from the Sign Of Life album. The guitar work is moving, emotional and very diverse for a band in this genre. They also manage to come up with riffs and melodies that actually very catchy for this style of Metal, hence the comment I made before about MTV etc. Guitarist Dion Christodoulatos is a very skilled player and he also lends some vocals to several tracks, maybe its just the growling bits but I am not sure on that point. One interesting element is a slight industrial edge that comes and goes throughout the album, at times sounding like Rammstein, it gives the album a unique flavor but that is where the uniqueness ends unfortunately.
Despite some good moments of dark, gloomy metal, most of this is verging on the mainstream but maybe that is what they are after anyway. The recycling of riffs and ideas is just too obvious to ever be considered innovative and the songs themselves a little too commercial to please the average Doom fan. There is of course a market for these type of bands and Sorrowful Of Angels could be huge giving the right marketing. Personally I found this album to be a luke-warm effort from the band.
Having gotten that off my chest, the band is still a worthly addition to your collection of morbid, dark and melancholic Doom Metal bands. The musicianship is excellent throughout and the production plus artwork is great. The songs walk a fine line between classic Doom Metal and commercial Gothic Metal, so much so they could easily fit into any MTV or VH1 video playlist. That might be considered a negative comment depending on where you stand on such issues. Highlights include "Second Life", "Ship In Your Trip" and "Red Sunrise" which is a somewhat different version to Paradise Lost’s "Erase" from the Sign Of Life album. The guitar work is moving, emotional and very diverse for a band in this genre. They also manage to come up with riffs and melodies that actually very catchy for this style of Metal, hence the comment I made before about MTV etc. Guitarist Dion Christodoulatos is a very skilled player and he also lends some vocals to several tracks, maybe its just the growling bits but I am not sure on that point. One interesting element is a slight industrial edge that comes and goes throughout the album, at times sounding like Rammstein, it gives the album a unique flavor but that is where the uniqueness ends unfortunately.
Despite some good moments of dark, gloomy metal, most of this is verging on the mainstream but maybe that is what they are after anyway. The recycling of riffs and ideas is just too obvious to ever be considered innovative and the songs themselves a little too commercial to please the average Doom fan. There is of course a market for these type of bands and Sorrowful Of Angels could be huge giving the right marketing. Personally I found this album to be a luke-warm effort from the band.
1. Second Life
2. Denial
3. A Long Stay
4. Ship In Your Trip
5. Laws Of Deceit
6. Red Sunrise
7. Final Win
8. Suicidal Manners
9. How To Lose A Star
10. I'm Home
Sleazy Rider Records
Reviewer: Ed
Feb 23, 2010
Feb 23, 2010
Next review:
Sangre Eterna - Amor Vincit Omnia
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