BRUTALISM

Really slow, really heavy and really loud -- but not so loud as to destroy the bittersweet melody of the background keyboards that sugar-coat the heavy guitars, bass and drum crashes, the growling vocals that tell tales of heartbreak and sorrow and not to suffocate the chord-changes and song structure which are sophisticated by metal standards for sure.

Listening to Ablaze In Hatred is to embark on a an epic adventure in depression -- a lot like life really -- which is why I like this kind of music. They use enough keyboards to be compared to a goth-metal band like My Dying Bride or Draconian but "Deceptive Awareness" is a death doom album for sure, more akin to Swallow the Sun or Katatonia. than to a funeral doom band such as Bethlehem or Ahab (a band that I reviewed a couple months back). They are not unlike a funeral doom band, just not as atmospheric and sound-scapish and slow -- it's slow but not that slow. Let's just leave it at that. (review by Mykke)