Review Summary: Evoken offer a glimpse of light....but only for a second.
Funeral doom isn't the easiest genre to get into, that's for sure. In fact, it may very well be the HARDEST metal subgenre to get into. Song lengths are generally around the 10 minute mark on average, it's monotonous, it drags along slowly and painfully, etc. The funny thing is, all of those qualities are what makes funeral doom the most gut wrenching, grueling and yet emotionally investing and rewarding genres of music in general.
Evoken is a name that even casual fans of funeral doom should know. They're one of the most successful and well known bands in the genre. There's a good reason for that considering their knack for creating such desolate and beautiful music album in and album out.
Antithesis of Light is possibly the best funeral doom album ever made, but the rest of the discography is just as bleakly gorgeous.
Quietus is Evoken's second full length album and it might be their most bombastic.
From the very first second, the listener is bombarded by melancholic (almost gothic) keys and dreadful yet beautiful symphonics before the treachorous and sludging riffs whisk you away into a black abyss that you can never hope to escape. It's as if the background noise of the constant melody is keeping you afloat, thinking you can reach the light. Until the despairing riffage and thick basslines come in and you realize that in fact you're sinking further and further down, almost feeling Hell's heat creeping up on you. The vocals here are fantastic as always on an Evoken album, though here they take more of a backseat to the atmospherics. Acting as more of a third wheel, the effect is positive in the way that the vocals can be thought of as a literal demon growling at you from another dimension. The almost "echo" sound of the growls makes it as if the voice is coming from somewhere beyond the grave.
Quietus might not be Evoken's "best" album but I think it's their most varied. The other albums in their discography are fixated on complete darkness. If you could ever consider funeral doom somewhat cheerful, it would sound like this. As mentioned earlier, the synth and keyboard work here provides an almost false sense of "brightness". Even some of the riffs during the more droning parts of this album are almost uplifting. Like the calm before the storm of the century.
Quietus does indeed provide false hope. It's not complete darkness at all times. It gives you glimpses of sunshine and roses, but ultimately it is a funeral doom album and its main objective is to kill that hope at all costs. And believe me, Evoken ALWAYS succeeds in making the listener feel complete and utter despair.
