Nation Despair - Only Embers Left

This can be quickly summarized as gothic tinged melodic death metal from Finland playing homage to a scene that was rather popular in the early to mid-nineties. It is a rather refreshing change to hear something more out of the box than the usual Scandinavian death metal assault, but said that, for me this style has to stand out as it was never something I really got into. That said a track like ‘Dethroned’ will make a smart and stark statement by nature of its searing melancholic atmosphere and often punishing up tempo sections that appear amongst the nice melodic solo. In this instance, I find the first Omnium Gatherum release as a comparison and then I go back to the UK for a Paradise Lost-ism here and there. From this you may for a particular picture, but in all honesty, it is really written and delivered well with a strong passion.

‘River of Dead’ is vocally a little more doom death, but the tempo in the music makes this a less than sombre affair, although I am sure if you get the concept of this release, then sombre is what you will get out of this as it is based on the last moments of life from different perspectives.  As each track passes, the guitar tone gives some poignancy, I cannot really pin point it, but Nation Despair certainly have an aura around them and this has been captured and harnessed well in the studio.

This is quite a decent release all in all; the major positive trait is the atmospherics that are presented as these are constantly dynamic and clearly passionate. Although myself I am not too much of a fan of the vocal style, it fits the music perfectly and cries out pain, anguish and desperation at times, which is fitting to the overall subject matter of this self-released concept effort.