Description
Black vinyl with printed innersleeve. Limited 500 copies
Council Of Tanith are a doom metal band from Dublin, Ireland who released an impressive demo in 2009 and then disappeared off the radar. Finally they are back; I was hoping for a full length album but only got a 3 track vinyl but still at least there is finally something new from them to listen to. The band plays classic-doom, nothing more, and nothing less. It is in the vein of Reverend Bizarre, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath with some Wino inspired stoner-doom added to the mix. This is an interesting but kind of frustrating release to have to review. At times this is monumental stuff but at other times it reeks of by-the-numbers doom metal with irritating elements either from the band themselves or from various production issues. Council of Tanith do have the riffs, there is some real scorchers on this EP but it is all damaged by some very ordinary vocals at times. The opening track, The Wrath of God mixes sabbathian doom riffage, good solos, progressive doom passages a-la early Cathedral and some serious grooves especially in the tracks second half. This track is symbolic of the EP as a whole though, half it is great but half of it has overwhelming irritating elements that takes away from the bands power and severely disrupts the atmosphere of the recording. On the one hand, you have a great killer crushing guitar sound but then you also get a very weak bass sound that is lacking in bottom end. I read that Deaf Sparrow Zine described the bass as scentless fart, the kind you swear you heard but didn’t have enough bite to sting the nose, and that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. It is a pity because guitarists Niall O Claonadh and Lorcan Archer both have killer guitar sounds but the farting bass in the background doesnt do them any favors. Vocalist Anthony McGee is (lets say) an average vocalist, not terrible by any means but one that cant much the quality of the guitar work so the band tends to sound unbalanced at times. Despite that, The Wrath of God still has enough crushing riffs to satisfy once you get used to the little quirks in the sound. Final Rest is the highlight of the EP for me, it doesnt bring anything new to the doom table but it is well-arranged and considering it is almost 10 minutes long, the track flows very nicely. This track seems to get the balance just right between modern doom a-la Electric Wizard and the old-school Witchfinder General kind of vibe. The last track, Turning Tides is more of the same but not as effective this time, the running length of 9 minutes just gets a bit too much to handle. I have to cite Deaf Sparrow Zine again because they bring up an interesting point. In doom, there have always been quirky singers – the king of those is Lee Dorrian from Cathedral. Since day one of Cathedrals existence as a band people have been divided over his vocals. I seem to be one of the rarer breed who actually like his voice and I totally love most of his lyrics but there is a fine line between being unique, quirky, whatever and simply being horrible. The problem with the vocals of Council Of Tanith is they cross over into both realms and do it often. The singer has an irritating falsetto thing going on that simply doesnt sound good nor does it suit the style but at other times, he sounds alright, not great but passable so this is frustrating. It also highlights the fact of how important vocals are to the traditional doom band. A funeral or death-doom band can get away with a growling, guttural vocal but in trad-doom, a good vocalist is required. You can be unique, even an acquired taste but it has to suit the tunes. In the case of this EP, it often misses the mark terribly. It creates a problem for me, the reviewer because most of the music is great, really great but the overriding vocal issue forces me to give a lower score. Musically, this rates pretty high, vocally and production wise it rates an average score at best. Its tricky to rate this thing but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and give it a 7/10.
Track listing:
1. The Wrath Of God
2. Final Rest
3. Turning Tides