Catacombs



2007 - Echoes Through The Catacombs

Reviews:

Harm.us
(february 2008)

This is the re-release of EP of a cult project leaded by Xathagorra Mlandroth (Hierophant). It had originally been released on a very limited cdr edition and so Solitude Productions offers us this opportunity to have it again

"Echoes Through The Catacombs" contains the two long songs of the ep and their remastered editions too. 2 songs in 2 different versions each. The artwork of this album has been designed by Xathagorra Mlandroth.

If you were after this ep or if you like funeral doom then this is a good suggestion to you.


Reviewed by: Bleeding

The Metal Crypt
(march 2008)
(4/5)

Echoes Through the Catacombs is really an EP, but this reissue doubles its length with the inclusion of remastered versions of the original songs. Catacombs plays Funeral Doom, and it sure as hell feels like it. Slow, and I do mean s-l-o-w, morbid, sad, melancholic heavy music is what we are served with here, with low growling vocals that lose themselves in the very slow, monotone but heavy and raw guitars. Following the trend, the drumming is equally slow and not particularly "powerful", which blends in well with everything else here. Crushingly heavy, yet disturbingly calm, Echoes Through the Catacombs is almost like the soundtrack to a descent to hell, with nothing that sounds remotely positive - not an advisable listen if you're depressive, needless to say.


Reviewed by: Michel Renaud

Encyclopaedia Metallum
(october 2006)
(87/100)

Sometimes when you a band, you get a particular feeling about when it would be appropriate to listen to their music. For instance, some band play music that would be great to drive to or "driving music," some bands play music to cook to or "cooking music. Catacombs, particularly on this record, play "music to invoke nightmares to." Fall asleep with this on, and you may because at points it may sound slightly repetitive, and it is highly possible you may find yourself confronted by grotesque demons in your slumber.

The production is crisp, no instruments lose their edge and everything is heard well and clear and to an incredibly impressive degree of heaviness. This is truly a wall of noise battering you from many directions. Vocally, there isnt much going on. The vocals are, low, gutteral, and monotone which however suit the music and style of vocalist / guitarist / bassist / drummer / solitary-lovecraftian bard Xathagorra Mlandroth who, should probably choose a smaller name if he wants anyone to ever be able to remember "that guy who wrote all those long songs." Vocals aside the musicianship is superb in a minimalistic approach. though there arent a million notes every second of every song as in some bands *cough* Dream Theater *cough* I found the musicianship on this album invigorating. Like lying down and have warm water poured over you every so often invigorating. Every note is hit with more conviction than a elderly nun saying no to anal sex. The bass is immense and as in your face as comming nose to nose with a stampede of angry collossi from an H.P. Lovecraft novel, which, I should probably say is where Xathagorra Mlandroth has found most of his lyrical inspiration. Drums - much like the hard hitting bass sound - add heaviness at every crash, snare, and bass beat. The guitar tone is also beautifully destructive in its heaviness. The tone of this album is probably my favorite part about it.

Though there isnt much pace or tempo variation, the two hour long songs (or at least to me, they seems hours long) is riddled with subtle secrets hidden within the music. Even after all these goodies - the tone, the heaviness, the subtleties - something must be said about the replayability. Replayability is solely dependant on the songs, the compositions themselves. And a thirty minute album with two meandering songs is not gonna be something youll find yourself listening to over and over unless you are really into this style, are in the mood to listen to something, or you constantly find yourself lonely and depressed with nothing to do with the endless time you have on your hands. After one or two listens, youll probably find your interest weening.

Xathagorra Mlandroth's songwriting on this album is what some would call sub-par. Together they give a good look at what this man is capable of however in the end we are left with two long songs with great tone, lots of great doomy riffs but nothing to really consider a song. Sure, funeral doom is known for outlandishly long and slow songs but you can still write long and slow SONGS. Overall, this is a great attempt at writing some really epic fueral doom masterpeices that just lacks compositionally. The future may reveal Xathagorra Mlandroth mastering his craft however until then we are left with just another above average sounding, compositionally lacking recording.

Reviewed by: Orionmetalhead

Doom-metal.com
(2003)

By Odin's beard, this is what I have been waiting for: a new band that is able to kick my ass the way bands like Until Death Overtakes Me, Shape of despair and Hierophant did last year! Catacombs is the brainchild of J del Russi, the founder and sole member of the aforementioned Hierophant. Those who are familiar with the primitive power of this band, know that it stands for monolithic, suffocating dark, ultraslow doom unequalled in its unrelenting extremity and heaviness.

Catacombs takes this sound a step further, adding more sophistication and variety, yet without compromising any heaviness or dark essence. This is a slab of crushing, vicious, relentless and yet mature ultradoom. The solid production allows for the creation of the necessary wall of sound to pull off any kind of extreme doom (or even doom for that matter). But other amazing things happen as well on the surface of this underlying seismographic foundation.

A mesmerizing, mysterious lead weaves an intricate web that immobilises the listener in its tight grip. The fast lead themes contrast with the static violence in the background, offering a `reverse disembowelment`effect: while the later usually have a primitive, minimalist lead going on while in the background furious drums are raging mad, Catacombs does just the opposite. The underlying wall of sound remains agonizingly massive and static while the lead takes you as fast as the lightning to unknown realms of darkness and mystery. Monotonous, repetitive clean guitars fill in any gaps that dare to show their ugly heads among this suffocating field of destruction. Those lifeless themes come clearly to the front in the second track on this mcd, a complicated, highly mysterious and surrealistic funeral doom/death epos.

These two tracks contain more essence and power than all those self-proclaimed `doom bands` that pop up like mushrooms, trying to steal crumbs from the success of established deities like Kyuss, My Dying Bride and Katatonia. Even more than the pleasantly surprising `Halls of amenti` from Cephalic Carnage, this is one of the most impressive extreme doom releases I've heard in a while. If you are into dark, suffocating doom, you can't ignore Catacombs.

Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou