ALBUM REVIEW: Wake – Leonov

Since their formation in 2010, LEONOV have found inspiration for their celestial doom, in the existential, the darkness, and the hope in things beyond our reach and comprehension. Their entire sound is oppressively heavy and melancholic, submerged under wave after wave of mournful riffs. Wake takes LEONOV’s previous work and sets the bar higher than they had already made it.

The introductory track, I Am Lion, I Am Yours opens the album with a foreboding, looming riff, almost overpowering the organ that accompanies this aching procession to the grave. A euphonic, bewitching voice rises over the malefic instruments, enticing and coaxing the listener into a false sense of comfort, all the while cymbals and chimes crash around them. Eucharist is rife with abstract drums and an ethereal, hauntingly sublime vocal performance by Tåran Reindal that transcends reality. The flow of this track is slow and deliberate, melding phantasmal elements with the crushing bleakness of the atmospheric riffs, throbbing bass from Morten Kjellig, and of course the all-important drum patterns that holds the rhythm together, courtesy of Jon-Vetle Lunden.

The beautiful, lumbering Shem exhibits LEONOV’s supreme ability to effortlessly unite the delicate and dreamlike synth and vocal stylings with the pounding rhythms heard throughout. Ole Jørgen Reindal and Rune Gilje’s masterful guitar work sets the precedence and tone for the entire track, ranging from the muted and complementary style in the beginning, continuing through to the overpowering and dissonant riffs, barely undercut by Tåran Reindal’s unearthly, icy voice penetrating out from the ominous void. Oceanode begins with a discordant guitar ringing out over the abstract and complex drum work that digs up primordial emotions, too intricate and obscure to succinctly put into words. The orchestration of every constituent within this wonderful piece is fantastically sublime, once again proving that LEONOV have the creativity and proficiency to dredge up an emotive ensemble forged from the darkest and harrowing aspects of creation.

Finally, we come to the title track, Wake. While previous songs began with, (or featured heavily throughout) crushing riffs, sonorous bass, and colossal drums, Wake has a disparity of this until the final third of the track. This doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the arrangement by any means, as with acoustics and ambient noise, the group are able to pull off a depressing harmony throughout. Sparse with over-complication and technicality, the simplicity is hauntingly serene and melancholic, all the while maintaining a dense fog in the air, masking the upcoming onslaught from plain sight. The weight of the guitars as they explode into the track at the 11-minute mark leaves you feeling breathless, as the gentle build up and sudden drop catches the listener off guard. It’s an assault on the senses that is brutal and unrelenting until the track comes to a close.

Wake is one of the most impressive doom albums of the year, seamlessly melding clean and ghostly vocals with onerous and solemn instrumentation. The pace throughout is dark and brooding, asphyxiating the listener with the feeling of anguish and grief, as if the whole album is the soundtrack to your own funeral. LEONOV have created an album that is brimming with a profoundly interesting take on emotion and tackles it in a mature manner with every stride.

Rating: 9/10

Wake is out now via Fysisk Format. 

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