There is no specific place in the world to feel melancholic, and this is what Chalice Of Suffering want to prove us.
Created in 2015 in the United States, the band gathers John McGovern (vocals), Kevin Murphy (bagpipes/vocals, ex-Throne Of Wilderness), Aaron Lanik (drums, We Are Legion), Will Marvelas (guitar/bass, We Are Legion, Coffinrot), Nikolay Velev (keyboards/guitar, Historian, Inspell, ex-Nangilima) et Neal Pruett (bass, We Are Legion) to play a Doom/Gothic Metal that also picks some elements to Folk and Death Metal. Here is Lost Eternally, the band’s sophomore full-length, and their art just reaches its peak. Some guests might also be part of the journey…
The album begins on the slow In The Mist of One Was, a track that fully uses keyboard’s soaring sound’s potential, with some harmonics, a thundering bass but above all some whispers that morphs into howlings and a bagpipe that suddenly appears. Those ghostly sounds lead us to Emancipation of Pain, the second track. Once again, a weighing sound falls upon us, but this time screams are more powerful and presents, thanks to Danny Woe (Woebegone Obscured). The danish’s participation makes this song darker and their riffs entwine until the final cry. The ambience changes with Forever Winter’s mystic sounds, a composition that takes time to really begin before offering ice-cold riffs to finally stop again. The pattern recurs but with a less imposant rhythm part that focuses more on harmonics, that allow the singer to put his stony voice.
On Lost Eternally, Giovanni Antonio Vigliotti, Somnent’s singer, walks with John for a duo on strange, slow and heavy riffs. Guitars disappear for the benefit of a powerful bass and worrying keyboards. However, the blend goes on, and we’re quickly surrounded by every elements to finally leave for The Hurt. And even if there is only one voice, instruments are here to add their crystal touch to deep growls. Slowness is still the concept, however we feel that drums are somehow prisoner of this languor, and all instruments imperceptibly accelerate. Another guest from a totally different universe, The Demonstealer (Demonic Resurrection, Demonstealer, Solus Ex Inferis, ex-Reptilian Death) screams with the singer to ornate this soft melody that spins on the background, letting voices and drums play nearly alone. Here is already the final track, Whispers Of Madness, that continues in the lineage of the previous tracks. Justin Buller’s vocals (In Oblivion) joins this pervasive suffering that lasts all along the six-minutes long track, that closes another page in the american’s discography.
Although recently discovered, Chalice Of Suffering and its melancholic universe knew how to intrigue me since the firsts notes. If Lost Eternally seems to be a bit repetitive for newcomers, Doom and Gothic lovers will enjoy it without a doubt. The guests add a part of their own universe with them, which makes this record more diversified.
85/100