Band's List Doom Black Raventale Bringer of Heartsore

Just as one thinks that the extreme metal scene has reached a point beyond saturation and there is no way that new releases can possibly beat those "old-school" and "classic" releases (especially with the recent old-school revival movement), bands like Raventale pop out to prove this belief wrong. Ukraine's Raventale has been around since 2005, with a steady stream of releases. Bringer of Heartsore marks the band's fifth release in six years.

BadMoonMan Music, the label of the band, touts this release as one of the most "sophisticated, sensual and mature" work of the band, and it is easy to see why as soon as the album begins, with Anything is Void presenting listeners with a somewhat heavy and emotional atmosphere in the guitar riffs. There is no rush as the band slowly builds up the climax and the anticipation for the song to begin proper, and while many bands fail to do so, Raventale has managed to do this nicely, ensuring that each part that is included on the song is well-thought out. For the most part, the music that is on Bringer of Heartsore is melancholic black metal, somewhat like a more emotional version of bands like Pestilential Shadows (or a more polished version of Drowning the Light), what with the inclusion of keys, keeping up a haunting atmosphere. There is also a slight Norwegian black metal influence on some of the tracks, such as the riffing on These Days of Sorrow. Band mastermind Astaroth's vocals are filled with equal parts pain and aggression, and this provides a nice balance of emotions in the album. Note though, that this album is not just depressive fare throughout as band Astaroth includes different styles on most of the songs, one moment just straight out emotional, followed by an aggressive chugging section such as on Breathing the Scent of Death.

On top of the usual black metal elements, Raventale has also included a number of different influences in their songwriting as well, and these also sit well with the structure of the songs and keeps the listener constantly interested in the music. The progressive elements are evident in the song structures of most of the tracks, with the band often displaying tempo shifts to fit the mood of the music at the moment in time. The guitar solos on the album such as those on Twilight, The Vernal Dusk are also woeful and drenched with emotions, and sound more like it could come off a Octavarium-era Dream Theater album instead (minus the usual mindless shredding of John Petrucci, of course). Longer songs on the album such as the opening track Anything is Void and Twilight, The Vernal Dusk have an epic feel to them as well, and this certainly helps in preventing them from becoming boring affairs. The Last Afterglow Burned also brings in some doom metal moments, further displaying the range of influences of Raventale.

Depressive black metal has never sounded this appealing, and Raventale has definitely changed this with Bringer of Heartsore, with the diversity that is included in the 40 minutes on the album.