Gloomy Sunday



2007 - Beyond Good And Evil

Reviews:

Deaf Sparrow
(march 2008)
(4/5)

What a bummer this is. As it should, Beyond Good and Evil starts with the portentous track “Living Dead at the Trade Center Morgue”; a long extended jam of sludge and slime where a dragged corrosive riff serves as bleak backdrop to the agonizing vocals and to a sample of Bush announcing how those events managed to change the world. As the title reveals, the song deals with the events of September 11, but it remarkably manages to mix explicit lyricism about the violence that ensued and its religious roots. Still touchy about the stuff? Well, get over it. It’s not for nothing that this album is titled Beyond Good and Evil. For the remainder of the album, Sweden’s Gloomy Sunday proceeds to pound our senses against the ground with sluggish doom; for the most part simple downtuned riffs give way to nothing but power. It is rare the occasion when like during “Burnt Out the Sun”, a sparkling guitar gives Gloomy Sunday a slightly different approach. Curiously enough, it is only during this track that the band approximates a more slow tempo Entombed circa 1992 sound. Were Gloomy Sunday to keep this approach, they’ll be the perfect bridge between primitive Swedish death metal and crusty doom.

Sweden’s Gloomy Sunday takes its name from the 1930’s Hungarian pop song that would be popularized in the US by the great Billie Holiday. Dealing with despair and hopelessness the songs is said to have inspired hundreds of suicides. Fitting as all nooses, this band takes matters very seriously but is no exempt to pick up the pace during the punky “End Trip”, a nice contrast and change of pace to an almost one note album.

Special mention should go to the awesome artwork adorning Beyond Good and Evil; the cover is a shot of the cult Brit film “The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue”, but the biggest pearl lies inside; initially supposed to be the cover artwork, it presents a hilarious and disturbing collage of mushrooms, buildings, corpses, planets, night sky, half planes/half penises and a black eagle. They say that good things come for those who wait and the last track proves that maxim right; “Dead, Love, Autumn” is a rather poetic two-part humongous fifteen minute paean to pessismism and doomed destiny. Looking at current state of affairs, it seems about right and Gloomy Sunday is only pushing us closer.


Reviewed by: editor@deafsparrow.com

True Metal
(may 2008)

Gloomy Sunday is a band, whose name perfectly reflects on their music and sound. Earlier I have not heard of them, that is why it was so interesting for me to find out that there are such ways of representing the negative, sad and the unexplainable.Gloomy Sunday cannot be put in any specific frame, because the music from "Beyond Good And Evil" flows beyond any borders - it would be easier to classify what style they don't play, not the other way around. In the album everything is smoky and dirty - drums, guitars, voices. Everything is foggy, without sharpness, undefineable cutting, but at the same time strangely musical and free. With unnoticable changes Gloomy Sunday goes from darker tunes and rythms to lighter stuff and at the same time they never lose the muddy inviroment, which is surrounding the listener without a chance to escape. Nothing positive or hopefull, no good mood maker, so you better put this CD far away when having hang over.

Reviewed by: Kaspars

My Last Chapter
(april 2008)
(9/10)

What feels rather obvious as soon as Beyond good and evil sets off, is that it’s not your ordinary doom metal album. And after listening to it over and over for a while, I can easily state that it’s not like anything I’ve ever heard before. As soon as the first riff starts I get a feeling of something out of the ordinary; it’s not a saddened, heavy-as-hell metal riff, but rather a metalized hardcore riff. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about anything even remotely close to metalcore, but rather old school crustcore, draped in a sludgy, doomy aura. And these lads sounds as rooted deeply in the hardcorepunk scene, and have then adapted that particular distorted sound into doom metal. There’s no question about it; this is certainly sludgy doom, but with a punk attitude. It might sound absolutely fucked-up by the description, but I can guarantee that they’ve managed to pull it off. But I’d also draw some influences from the very early doom metal scene, with a sort of 70ies/80ies psychedelic touch to it (of course without sending out hippie vibes). Behind this wicked, raw riffing and drumming there’s a harsh voice lurking in the background, which enhances an already established atmosphere of desperation. I don’t think I’ve ever heard doom metal reek of such pure brutality, a brutality that sort of reminds me of Counterblast. Anyway, this is one fine album that presents something completely new to me; a sludgy doom metal punk album.


Reviewed by: Unknown

Metal Reviews
(march 2008)
(74/100)

I have to confess that I broke a cardinal rule of mine with this review. I usually make it a point to attempt to not formulate any assumptions about a band I have not heard before writing their review, be it through hearsay or any other reason. I feel that, for me to break this rule would be unfair to said band and threatens my objectivity. Most times, this isn’t hard for me to do. However, when the folks at Solitude Productions sent over Beyond Good and Evil, the debut album of Sweden’s Gloomy Sunday, I couldn’t help myself. First, if you had not noticed, their moniker is merely a synonym for Black Sabbath. Another ode to the metal legends comes in the form of the band’s logo, which looks almost like it was lifted right off the cover of We Sold Our Soul for Rock N’ Roll. These two signs were too hard to ignore, and I found myself fully expecting yet another doomy stoner rock clone of Black Sabbath a la Sheavy. What I got just reinforces to me that I should follow my own rules, as Beyond Good and Evil owes it sound more to the likes of Electric Wizard or YOB. Maybe they should have picked a name like Shocking Sorcerer to be more accurate. (Just kidding, of course)

Based off the two bands I just likened them to, you should not be surprised to learn that Gloomy Sunday keys their sound off an absurd amount of distortion and low end, both on bass and guitar. In fact, I would say that they take the cake in this regard. Just listen to the opener, Living Dead at the Tradecentre Morgue, and you’ll quickly realize that it may not be possible to pack any more distortion into the production without making it purely white noise. Jari Kuittinen’s vocals are extremely low in the mix, but from what little you can hear, they are similar to vocals found in Cult of Luna or Isis. The riffing also has the essence of sludge, from what you can discern anyway. I probably sound like I am detracting for this, and I guess I am, to an extent. I prefer a distorted sound for this kind of doom, but there are times in Beyond Good and Evil when it feels overdone and actually seems to reduce the thickness of the riffing. That’s not to say that these guys aren’t talented, but they may want to study Dopethrone to get a better feel for the perfect balance of distortion and heaviness. Case in point is the track Beyond the Light. The main riff on this song has the potential to be crushingly heavy, but is held back a bit by the overflow of fuzz. Despite this, it is still one of the highlights of the album.

The pace of Beyond Good and Evil is very slow and deliberate for the beginning two thirds of the album. I personally don’t mind this at all, but I give kudos to the band for speeding things up in a big way for End Trip, which is a nice change of pace. It is also interesting to hear the ultra-distorted production in a different setting; one that I think suits Gloomy Sunday’s unique sound very well. The closing track, Dead Love Autumn appears to be a little less distorted. Then again, it might just be that the mammoth riffs on this 15-minute monster of a track are so ridiculously heavy that nothing can lessen their effect. I’ll lean towards the latter. This song also manages to pull off a clean bridge section, which comes completely out of left field but really doesn’t sound out of place in retrospect.

It is obvious after listening to this album that Gloomy Sunday have the ability to be a staple in the ranks of stoner doom. Considering what I was expecting, Beyond Good and Evil was a nice surprise. I hope that next time out they tinker with their sound and come up with a slightly better result. Of course, it bears repeating that this is their debut album, so no one should expect perfection, or anything else for that matter. I know I won’t make that mistake again.


Reviewed by: Adam

Maelstrom ISSUE 56
(6/10)

Alright, let’s get right to the heart of the matter. Do you worship Godlfesh? More specifically, do you kneel daily at the altar of their seminal album Streetcleaner, paying particular concern to the opening track "Like Rats?" Now let your mind take a flight of fancy and imagine "Like Rats" overlaid with a thick patina of grime, dirt and random fluids and helmed by a vocalist doing his damndest to channel Michael Gerald of Killdozer with only a few shredded flaps of skin adhering to his larynx. Can’t quite construct the overall image? No worries, the four degenerates that comprise Gloomy Sunday have done all the heavy lifting for you.

Seriously, the first six tracks on Beyond Good And Evil adhere to that template, bursting with mechanized rhythms (courtesy of a live drummer, go figure), colon-tickling low end in the bass department, guitar work that masquerades as ripped sheets of corrugated metal shuddering in the breeze and, of course, those really, really messed up vocals. It’s an ugly little mess, so ill-fitting and squalid that you can practically see rivulets of grease forcing their way through your speakers.

Then, come track seven and for reasons known only to themselves, Gloomy Sunday get in touch with their inner stoner and filter everything that came before through a couple of tracks of uptempo and groove-laden rockers that’ll have you thinking of Orange Goblin or Fu Manchu in the aftermath of an all-nighter, bloodied, bruised, broke and doused inside and out with bio-diesel.

Oh, but wait, it get even more head-scratchingly unsound. The final song, "Dead, Love, Autumn," begins its fifteen-minute lifespan as a repellently catchy little number, makes an abrupt leap into elongated, Neanderthal pummel, and then falls apart bit by bit, exiting via a spot of ultra-doom that might be Khanate in a positive frame of mind.

It’s a testimony to sheer perversity and determination that the band keeps it all from sinking under the weight of its collective absurdity. Beyond Good And Evil has that whole car crash thing going on: you don’t want to look, know with some certainty that you’ll witness something you’d rather you hadn’t, yet your neck cranes in that direction as if under its own volition. Lord knows we shouldn’t encourage Gloomy Sunday in their endeavors; they might produce another unwholesomely enticing piece of filth again.

Reviewed by: Joshua

Hellride Music
(june 2007)

This is another slightly altered review that was written in my Daredevil days, and I’m re-posting it because it is another record that is well worth the time for fans of awesome, unrelenting doom. In the time past since I reviewed this album the band have gotten it together for an official release on Solitude Productions; not to mention it was one of the best heavy doom releases of 2006, so I feel this is worth a big time second look for those that missed it in the first place.

This is one of the most evil sludge/doom records I have heard in quite sometime and it should definitely get Sweden’s Gloomy Sunday recognized and it is great to see that Solitude Productions stepped up and put this baby out (I had previously reviewed a demo only version of this album).

These guys have a knack for suffocating and dense songs that leave little room for any happy thoughts but they still inject plenty of powerful grooves into their songs that will make it impossible for you to stand still to their devastating assault.

The guitar and bass tones on this disc are so damn heavy and dirty and perfect for the sound they are going for as the drumming keeps things restrained but plodding and heavy with some vile vocals topping things off.

The vocals are actually really damn cool, they really aren’t a traditional scream or yell and have a totally unique tone that fits the music perfectly and still sounds brutal and menacing.

The opening dirge of “Living Dead at the Trade Center Morgue” kicks the album off on a heart-stopping note as ultra-slow, grooved out riffing meets morbid samples and a battering rhythm assault as the song focuses on the September 11th incident and really helps set the grim mood of the entire record.

Other tracks like “Xanor” and “Burn out the Sun” bring more of the same as cripplingly slow tempos pound away at your skull with subtle hooks in the riffs that’ll keep you coming back for more every time.

Don’t think that Gloomy Sunday is all about the slow and draining doom though. They kick out some serious groove tracks as well and even stray into some faster tempos from time to time.

“End Trip” grooves and rocks with the best of them and has the feel of the more straight-up 70’s influenced Cathedral records getting raped by Spancer and early Entombed.

They also bring some slower, yet catchy sludged out groove to tracks like “Sunrise Casualty” and “Dead, Love, Autumn” both of which are slow while maintaining rocked out and punishing groove. The latter of these two tracks maintains it’s pounding, infectious riffage all the way through with the former (and closing track) kicking up some serious Sabbath dust in it’s first section and descending into crawling, scathing punishment at around the 5 minute mark.

Man, this is just a completely ass kicking album all the way through. There is some serious beef in those tones that the guitar and the bass have going and I love the dirty grime that each one of these riffs contains. The vocals are unique and powerful and the drumming keeps things fairly simple and pounding but delves into some flashy stuff from time to time rounding things off nicely.

The production job is also top-notch and keeps it sounding raw and live while still making all of the tones and performances decipherable. This is a fantastic album and any of you out there even remotely into sludge and doom need to check this band out. “Beyond Good and Evil” was one of my favorite doom/sludge releases of the previous year and anyone that missed out on checking these guys out the first time, here is your chance.

Reviewed by: Jay Snyder

Global Domination
(june 2007)
(6,5/10)

Before I bothered to do research on the band in question, I assumed them to be an American act. The 9/11 themed intro and music I don’t acquaint with Sweden is to blame. We are talking sludge to the core here, downtuned like the roar of a lion, though slower than a dead cheetah.

“Beyond good and evil” is a massive wall of buzz with hoarse screams a bit beneath. It tramples like an elephant, and though I wouldn’t call it the best elephant in the world, it’s certainly one of the heavier.

I’ve listened to “Beyond good and evil” a fuckload of times already, and even though I like what I hear, sometimes very much so, the album hasn’t grown rapidly since the first encounter. Hardly at all. It’s competent from A to Z but with songs sounding a bit too much like one and other through the same alphabet. It could be me not being familiar enough with the sludge genre to be able to differ the songs properly, (fuck knows that some people think all death metal bands sound alike) and therefore I heed every fan of such noise to spend a couple of minutes at the band’s myspace page.

On future releases I would urge them to bring more of that stoner attitude as shown on “Endtrip” and “Sunrise casualty,” both songs are excellent and without them this album would have been a much lesser one.

“Beyond good and evil” harbours enough quality to make sure that I’ll pay a bit closer attention to the whole sludge movement from now on. I’m a big fan of sludge ammunition but it took this Swedish act to open my ears to its musical equivalent.

This is where you go if Clutch is too much fun for ya

Reviewed by: Kampfar

Live 4 Metal
(may 2007)

Ah, more far flung doom from the Solitude Productions label. This is rather a surprising find. Beyond Good and Evil, with their bloke holding a crucifix-aloft front cover had me thinking “traditional doom” in a heart beat, but it really isn't as simple as that. First, of course, came the obligatory Google search, which told me that this bunch of malcontents are based in Sweden, and secondly that “Gloomy Sunday” was a smash hit in the thirties for a Hungarian composer, and known as the “suicide song” thanks to the apocryphal tales that young lovers were so depressed upon hearing the mournful tones that they threw themselves from the nearest available open window. (Fatalities for bungalow dwelling lovers are not recorded).
Well, I don't think that I can expect a deluge of defenestrated downers any time in the future, but this is some enjoyable downtuned, superfuzzed scuzzy shit on a platter, that's for sure. The guitar tones are so subterranean that only as yet undiscovered tribes of Morlocks can properly reproduce them using conventional instrumental ism. In rather simple terms, this is crust-doom, with more than a passing nod at classic Electric Wizard at their most aggressive. There are nods here and there to the more extreme ends of the hardcore movement with the vocal style (hoarse, unhinged maddened screaming), and the drumming style that veers between the “power-of-the-hit” Bill Ward school of thrashing your kit like a Canadian hunter at a seal sanctuary, and the almost-breakdown style of the short haired back pack wearing brigade. Opener “Living Dead At The Trade Centre Morgue” sets the tone perfectly, sick as sleeping with your sister and twice as ugly, resplendent with the Ministry-esque Bush sample towards the end.
Thick, python sized riffs come thick and not-so-fast throughout, and I have found the album probably at its best while completely drunk and throwing all my caution to the wind. For sure, there's little here that's going to reinvent the wheel, but at heart, this is a devastatingly heavy, rumbling grumbling sonic punch to the throat. Call me a masochist, but I kind of like that action.

Reviewed by: Chris Davison

The Streets - Metal Webzine
(may 2007)
(5/10)

This is a Swedish band rooted in the sludge/stoner rock genre. With slow, groovy riffs, that are heavy as fuck, they deliver nine tracks in fifty minutes filled with murkiness and doom that’s likely to appeal to fans of Electric Wizard, EyeHateGod, Black Sabbath and Rwake. The lyrics deal with everything from political issues to depressing reality and alienation. Unfortunately this is another one of those acts I would describe as “okay-music-horrible-vocalist-band”. So with vocals that ruin a great deal and the fact that I find myself bored towards the end of the record, I’m afraid the rating won’t be more than average.

Reviewed by: Rune

Tartarean Desire
(may 2007)
(5.5/10)

Sometimes vocals are a tough issue on a doomesque metal album. Depending on the substyle performed, we have many options. Ozzy bashers are often hateful and disposable. Count Raven vocals, for example, are quite laughable. Funeral doomsters will embrace quickly the deep growls, that create an oppressive atmosphere and act like a background/support to the music despite they can?t offer a great range of emotions certainly... then we?ve got whispers and sweet pseudo-gothic croonery vocal work... well, all this rant is aimed to point out the incredibly monotonous vocals Gloomy Sunday have most of the time. They don?t belong to the mentioned types; the very first song features verses sung by a drunken pimp fired from the last pub closing, these broken words pumped off the worst of livers on Earth could suggest an interesting option to choose when delivering the goods in the vocal side. The rest of the songs are not sung with that peculiar voice. Nevertheless, when the album keeps flowing, the annoying sentiment is really hard to avoid and it makes the overall result decrease. The singer?s efforts partially spoil the impressions left by “Beyond Good And Evil” on me. Not an awful work, really, but it leans the music to dull territories, despite the rest of the instruments themselves are not innovative nor varied at all; it?s easy to hear the same drum fills and breaks in various songs, the riffs are more or less built on the same sonic textures everytime. And then we hear those creeping, boring vocals that strengthen the “correct but not amazing at all” feeling. Musically speaking Gloomy Sunday step on doomy territories halfway between sludgy moors and classic doom patterns. Electric Wizard could be a useful reference for the lost soul. Here we have a respectable dose of crunchy guitar riffs creating an effective (and boring) ambient without being fresh nor groundbreaking whatsoever.

Reviewed by: Fjordi