Anhedonist - Netherwards (2012)

   Anhedonist's one and only full-lenght album is definitely a death/doom masterpiece, that by it's 4 songs introduced unexpected depths. "Netherwards" passed around the genre, and song by song introduced it's various perspectives, while stayed unified.

   The album starts extremely heavy by a tone that might remind to Incantation, but stays at basic themes. Atmospheric sound has constant strong presence, but it's role gets increased in the second part of the album. There's a short but returning ominous melody in each song, that at the beginning might sound threathening, but later sounds more hopeless and desperate. The switches to short lasting speed ups somehow also losing from their swing, and in the end they seem more similar to some last desperate covulses than to the expression of contrast performed by temporary intensity. As the album drifts closer to funeral doom depths, the main tone also turns more tragic. This demoralizing switch alongside of the increased atmospheric effects made the final song of the album similar to French death/doom and black/doom bands like Ataraxie or Mourning Dawn. But since "Netherwards" included the possibility for such switches by it's sound and simple, but extended themes from the beginning, these small step by step changes doesn't occur unexpectedly, and effecting like an ongoing progress. It's a great example how musical minimalism is able to include more that what might be expected.