Okay, here's the thing: I don't see the purpose in this. There's no fucking way to get a good feel for what a band has to offer from three minutes and 15 seconds of material. No way. This one-track promo offers up a mere one succinct track of doomy, atmospheric metal with programmed drums, lots of synths, thick guitar riffs, and growling vocals. It's not straight doom metal, it's not progressive metal, it's not really gothic nor industrial, etc. It's also too poorly produced to do its strengths justice, but that's beside the point. It's only three minutes and 15 seconds, and it feels massively incomplete. There is potential, but the recording is too muddy and unbalanced, the guitar tone too unnatural, etc. The drum programming is strong despite an overly digital sounding machine, the growling vocals are pretty damn good and possess a potential wealth of force, and the songwriting seems competent though underdeveloped. The CD-R looks professionally duplicated with high quality printing and whatnot, and the artwork is consistent and fits the feel of the music. I think the typefaces used are horribly generic and cheapen the appearance though, coming off as typical goth junk or whatever, which the music is not. As harsh as this review comes across, I would be curious to hear more from this band, but this one track is not enough to suffice. They have some promise, but a better recording and a more complete vision will likely be necessary to really communicate their best work.
[self-released]
Running time - 3:15, Tracks: 1
[Notable tracks: there's only one]
Cold Grows the Season - http://www.coldgrowstheseason.com
