Piano, clean and precise, lulls you into this dead world of drowning light. The first track is warm and peaceful - a trap for sentimental fools. Upon its finish, the complacent listener is immediately drawn into a buzzing dirge; a gloom swell whose ebbing current sucks light and joy back into the frigid depths where they shall suffer beyond eternity. There is no happiness, no vigour of hatred, no glory or pride to be found within these waters. There is only the beauty of melancholy, of loneliness and despair.Really, a black metal dirge is the most accurate description I can think of for Drowning the Light. The sound is depressive, but not in a way that I'm used to. Azgorh is the sole member of this Aussie band, and he proves his ability on all aspects of the album. His singing sticks mainly to an anguished metallic shriek, but chanting and whispering show up in a couple songs. The guitars are the highlight of this album for me, and the reason why I label it a dirge. At times, notably on the second track "The Haunted Ruins of a Vampyric Soul," they even make me think of some abdead pagan choir singing along, as they exude an emotive sorrow. It makes for a haunting atmosphere.
A World Long Dead has really grown on me as I've relistened to it. Some of the tracks don't stand out as much, but on the whole I absolutely enjoyed this album.
9/10
[metareview: album hasn't stuck with me, interest is running out, these rough seas go on for too long, the winds howl through vocoders that sound like tin cans...the trip was fun, but now the ship is sinking and it is a relief.
6/10
[/meta]
