Of Spire & Throne - Sanctum in the Light (2015)

   Of Spire & Throne was formed in 2009, and before their first full-length album "Sanctum in the Light" they had 3 EP releases "The Trial of Failure", "Vagary" and "Toll of the Wound" (the first and the third ones having nearly full-length duration - not really surprising in this style).
   Their first two EPs were both excellent, and by being pretty grim and obscure, describing them as death/doom or funeral doom would be probably more accurate. The band's sludgy doom style first appeared on their third EP "Toll of the Wound", where on the side of less rough sound, truly sludgy themes showed up as well. On "Sanctum in the Light" stronger atmosphere was added and the album sounds like an extensive trial of capabilities by the band. Like if they were trying to expose their very depths of self-expression in the most various way possible. Mainly the contrast between the soft, simple melancholic melodies and the noisy, down-pulling heaviness creates these depths by leaving enough time for the listener to merge into both. Expressing such things effectively by the toolbar of musical minimalism is definitely the evidence of skillfulness in this style. At one hand the more sophisticated sound was an advantageous step to let the sludgy sound to prevail, but for the denser atmosphere and the melancholic melodies it was essential. However, it still wouldn't be incorrect to call their music as death/doom or funeral doom, since the features of both styles are still actively responsible for turning the music extremely obscure. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to state that by Of Spire & Throne only masterpieces came out so far, and "Sanctum in the Light" is no exception. Long term potential favorite for the fans of sludge/doom, funeral doom and death/doom.