Urania - Hieros Gamos (2015)

   "Hieros Gamos" by Urania could be described shortly as death/doom or funeral doom at its best. The appearance of such excellent albums seemingly from nothing became more frequent from the late '00s. Compared to the '90s trends this tendency keeps forming the subgenre to a heavier direction, that's basically its core essence.
   Urania's music includes a lot of funeral doom influences, that are represented in very long heavy riffs, extremely extended song lengths and strong atmosphere. Esoteric, Thergothon and Skepticism should be mentioned first of all if it's about possible direct influences. However, the songs are heavy and noisy on death/doom level, and the themes are often switching to death/doom as well, therefore the atmospheric sound couldn't take over. The role of instruments and atmosphere are balanced. The combination of rough sound and melancholy is overwhelmingly effective how it should be, and able to guide the listener through on "Hieros Gamos" seemingly with ease, though the album doesn't really count as the easiest album to listen to. And this is exactly where the excellence of this record lies: making such a heavy journey smooth and not falling into miserable monotony meanwhile. Strongly recommended for the lovers of funeral doom and death/doom!