ALBUM REVIEW: Lost Eternally – Chalice Of Suffering

There’s an increasing pressure across the heavy music scene, an expectation that if a band does not diversify, they stagnate. Unless acts are amassing influences and producing music that contains elements of at least six genres, then changing it up with every new album, they’re running the risk of being ‘boring’ or ‘inflexible’. Not so Minnesota’s CHALICE OF SUFFERING; inarguably the funeral doom quintet are stringent adherents to their chosen genre coupling. But this comes at a price.

In The Mist Of Once Was starts softly, cymbals and echoing chords backed by a tribal tom build. It’s meditative, distant and mournful, melodic bass shifts beneath. The spoken word vocals add atmosphere but raise a wince. Grooves snake around warbling synths, harder edged guitars mirror the main riff, John McGovern’s whispered, almost sighed growls do battle with Kevin Murphy’s bagpipes, of all instruments. It’s a subtle, listenable start that hinges on two movements, and not much else.

If the opener was unhurried, Emancipation Of Pain is in even less of a rush. Guitars slowly waltz, their tones erring on the side of cheese, as cymbals splash at a processional pace. McGovern’s vocals dip into guttural pig squeals, evoking early MY DYING BRIDE one moment and his more raspy stylings early OPETH the next. Whining, locked in dual guitars and stuttering drums usher in an oddly abrupt ending. Forever Winter sparks up with phasing guitar and choral synths, drifting ethereally into a big grinding guitar riff, then settling into restrained, infectiously snaking drum grooves.

The instrumentals and ideas here are solid, enjoyable as they drift from one movement to the next. The band stick to their sense of purpose with little deviation, a commitment that is commendable; it would have been all too easy to sully the waters with unnecessary influences just for the sake of them. There are, however, a few rougher edges here; tempos never really change, dynamics never truly bite, and the mix leaves occasional gulfs between instrumentation that leave tracks lacking cohesion. Certain elements and tones run the risk of sounding a little too chintzy. For true funeral doom acolytes, this will be a welcome breath of crypt air, replete with nostalgia and tradition. The more casual observer may find that the only thing Lost Eternally is near hour they spent listening. But then, for CHALICE OF SUFFERING, that very much seems to be the point.

Rating: 5/10

Lost Eternally is set for release April 19th via Transcending Obscurity Records.

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