Passage– Passage (Exorcise Music)
By Chris Barnes
September 21, 2005
Ah, the elegant side of Doom Metal from Quebec City’s Passage, who have given us, the melancholy masses, an especially interesting and engaging debut album.
Passage have totally bypassed the current popular Sabbath-inspired groove in favor of a latter day Anathema/vintage Paradise Lost sound. Nary a nasal vocal or swinging Sabbathian groove to be found, Passage layer their music with epic swashes of depressive and introspective melody coupled a subtle, almost Radiohead-esque ambience and exceedingly complex song structures. All done without the usually ostentatious female backing vocals and lush strings that tend to weigh this type of doom down with excess bombast.
Founder/vocalist Roby (also of Black Metal band Moonlyght) has what can only be considered an impressive emotional delivery and mid-range timbre made all the more distinctive with a French-Canadian accent. At least I hope that’s the accent… from sorrow to rage to hope, the guy packs it with punch that only someone that writes their own lyrics can.
I have a hard time saying anything bad about this debut, other than the band seem to engage in excessive mope-ery from time to time. Nonetheless, a perfect accompaniment for those dark, late-night introspective periods when it’s just you and your headphones or during a thunderstorm-driven catharsis. If this debut is any barometer of the talent of Passage, let’s hope that keep off the antidepressants long enough to give us a second release.
Purchase Passage at Hellride Music Superstore
Download an MP3 of A Death in Autumn
Visit the Passage website at www.le-passage.ca
BannerXchange
Linear Mode
