Slumber “Fallout” CD

I bought this one a few weeks ago upon being reminded that it had crept past me unnoticed for quite some time. Slumber is a Swedish six-piece that's been around since 2002, and "Fallout" is their first proper release, originally hitting the streets in 2004 via Karmageddon Media and for whatever reason not released in the States until earlier this year thanks to Candlelight Records USA. Clearly this fucker hasn't been promoted well enough for what it has to offer, as I had never even heard of the band before reading about them last summer on Darkdose, and only re-discovered them on a whim when searching through The End Records' online catalog as I had forgotten to purchase the CD earlier!

While the cover art's a little less than interesting, this is a relatively concise album offering seven tracks in about 38 minutes, which should appeal to fans of other Scandinavian acts such as Rapture combined with elements of classics like My Dying Bride in its display of powerfully melodic, atmospheric doom metal that's not one-sided: There are plenty of tempo changes and shifts that all convey a certain sense of melancholy, but there's enough color and energy there to supply the songs with an extra kick all around. Lots of cool picking patterns and little dissonant chord phrasings pop up throughout, plus the basslines interact perfectly between the guitars and the drums. Great recording, too. I totally love the guitar tone and the placement of the bass accents the performance just enough to make a huge difference. Hell, even the keyboards sound perfect, and I'm generally no supporter of keyboards!

Slumber "Fallout"

The band's planning to hit the studio for a follow-up in mid-2006, so I'll definitely be keeping an eye out based on the impressive strengths of this debut. I certainly recommend picking this one up, though The End is closed for the holidays until January 2nd, so you might wanna wait until next week to place an order:

@ The End Records