Ablaze In Hatred | ‘Deceptive Awareness’

Funny how you know some things are just Finnish. It’s unsuprising that Ablaze In Hatred sound as they do, given the abject lack of serotonin up there, and this funeral doom is as orthodox as it comes. Influences from Skepticism have filtered down in the form of some grandiose and in truth very complimentary keyboard work. They’re a shining example of how to do this right, and that’s worth marks alone. Though it’s hardly a genre given to adventure, the band do well enough in making their tunes leaden with enough pathos to see them through the duration of the album. Tracks like ‘Howls Unknown’ probably represent the best of the bunch, but repeat listens obviate the need for just a dash more class and personality. It’s of its style, no more but certainly no less. Undeniably competent, it still lacks the nihilism or the dejection to really hit the heart in the way that their forbears did some ten years ago. So it’s a good start to their career, and very far from a bad album. But in its quest for genre-standard length, they just lose out on a little direction. Doom fans will appreciate much here however, so if you’re one of that woebegone lot, pick it up.

2.7 / 5 - Ciaran Tracey ::: 15/02/07