Congratulations go out to Colosseum for the most miserable and bleak album that I have heard in quite a while and I should hasten to add that this is not a criticism. I am at a slight loss from not having heard previous album ‘Chapter 1: Delirium’ released in 2007 but that does not detract from the listening pleasure of this new one in the slightest. Colosseum are a Finnish band and play suicidal funeral doom, which too much exposure to could seriously invoke loss of life. ‘Numquam’ in case you were wondering is Latin for ‘Never,’ installing negativity by the very title of this disc and indeed the opening sermon.
After a lone chord, the might of the track booms in and it is, for want of a better word, colossal in sound. Guitars weep away in the background and drums slowly crash and splinter. Attention is drawn to the vocals as they growl in and Juhani Palomäki (ex Yearning) has one hell of a gruff, ragged and hoary delivery that is pretty much unique, I certainly couldn’t really put my finger on anyone else who he particularly sounds like that’s for sure. Although lyrics themselves are pretty much unintelligible to the normal ear, a quick look at them on Metal Archives illustrates the fact that they are as cheerless as fuck. The mournful lament of ‘Towards The Infinite’ follows and there is again plenty of melody in the background here and the rich baroque textured sound flirts like a filigree of shadows dancing around tombs in the cold mist of daylight. Adding to this is the mournful congregation of trumpet serenading the bones of the dead and sending a shiver down the spine of the still live listener.
Acoustics are really rich on ‘Demons Swarm By My Side’ and despite hints in the song title, these demons do not mean that the pace is picked up but swarm in multitude enveloping you in their dark domain. The trumpets again add many layers to this and it almost sounds like an incidental piece of James Bond music playing out from them reminding me a bit of the eccentricities of Sigh. With the first five tracks coming in at between 7-10 minutes one wonders if Colosseum were holding back. They certainly are not with ‘Prosperity’ at an almost punishing 17 minutes in length. Barren and in no hurry at all this one crawls but advances with determination like a rotting zombie towards trapped prey. Breaking into expansive, neo-classical, trumpet enhanced instrumentation from this claustrophobic dread the album then lingers into a sinister and creepy ‘Outro’ before leaving the dead to peacefully slumber once more. If you are into the likes of Ahab, Pantheist and Esoteric this comes highly recommended.
http://www.colosseumdoom.com
http://www.myspace.com/colosseumband
