Sometimes The Days Seem To Go Slower ...

Memory Garden is one of my favourite bands and probably my favourite in the doom metal genre. On the bands 3rd outing "Mirage" the band continues with their crushing blend of doom with power/prog influences. "Mirage" is my first exposure to Memory Garden and is probably my favourite of the 3 albums I own.

Opening with "Prologue" a sludgy atmospheric piece which quietly and slowly narrates the first verse of "A Long Grey Day" as far as I can tell. "A Long Grey Day" blasts in with some pummeling riffs and Stefan's doomy vocals and a haunting atmosphere. As one of the best songs here "A Long Grey Day" starts the album off nicely.

"Hallowed Soil" adds a moving sombreness with it's layered guitars brooding progressive atmospherics. "Shade" , my favourite song here slows the pace some, bordering on balladry whilst not losing it's doomy core. Especially during the haunting bridge.

"Revelation" and "River Of Sludge" are heavy, darker tunes with killer riffs and brooding vocals. "River Of Sludge" is the slower of the two, oozing with melancholy. "Navigate" and "My Pain" are more straight-forward power infused doom.

The album closer "The Search" is an acoustically driven song, hauntingly melancholic and melodic. This kind of ends the album on a bit of a downer, but it's doom metal so I guess that's the point.

Overall, I spun this album loads of times when I first picked it up. It was really my first delving into the doom metal genre and honestly, a really good place to start. I've said it before (and I'll say it again after my review of their latest release "Carnage Carnival") Memory Garden are a highly under-rated doom metal band.