There's Chamber Music, And Then There's Cavern Music.

How can I describe what Xathagorra Mlandroth has created musically with his project Catacombs. How does one describe the desolateness and isolated terror brought forth with mammoth sized sound? Well I guess I just did. As I previously mentioned in my last post, my knowledge of Funeral Doom is limited to Ahab and this album "In The Depths Of R'Lyeh" and so far I'm really enjoying it.

Funeral doom is not a genre one listens to a lot I think. It's more of a mood inspired style that one would choose to throw on funeral doom. And this is why there is a limited audience for this style of music. Again, speaking with a limited knowledge of funeral doom, I do find it to be a very vivid, picturesque music bordering on theatrical.

Ahab took the genre with atmospheric keyboards and leviathan-like riffs to envision a bleak watery torment and a man's descent into madness. Here Xathagorra Mlandroth creates a desolate, cavernous eeriness with an unsettling horror slowing awakening as though a mountain itself was moving. To try and break the songs down would be useless.

The first 3 tracks rumble forth with slow, sludgy heaviness and a sinister piercing melody that unsettles the soul. With each track clocking in over 10 min (with the longest passing the 16 min mark) this is a long slow process with subtle tempo changes and melodies tweaks. The behemoth crushing riffs and reverberating deathy vocals take on an eeriness come track 4 and carry through tracks 5 and 6.

There is 20 minutes of uneasiness that resonates through your soul like dragging a boulder through an underground cavern. The melodies eeriness is like discovering that the ever present rumbling isn't the rock settling, but in fact the monstrous Cthulhu (having risen from the depths of R'lyeh) in all it's tentacled horror bringing upon the destruction of the Earth and your the first thing in its path.

"Awakening Of The World's Doom ... (Reprise)" which closes the album chugs away with its mildly speedier tempo to signify the beginning of our end only to fade off and leaves us shivering in its wake.

Catacombs' "In The Depth Of R'Lyeh" is another example of funeral doom's surprising versatility. I often wonder lately why this style isn't used in more movie or tv soundtracks. It's the perfect framework for all kinds of emotional impact. I do hope to explore more of this genre, but for now I'll move onto some more of metal's styles.

Up next ... I don't know. Maybe some thrash, or black metal. Maybe some death metal. I guess you'll have to come back next sunday and find out ... (wink,wink)