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WHEN NOTHING REMAINS
Thy Dark Serenity

Solitude Productions (2013)
Rating: 6.5/10

So, if you’re tired of all the stoner bands who’ve been aping Black Sabbath all of their sorry lives, and if you’re in need of a slab of sorrowful metal with a difference, then maybe, just maybe Sweden’s When Nothing Remains are for you. If you can overlook the rather dodgy band moniker, which, if you ask me makes them sound like some modern emo band, then you’ll find a textured opus that offers us some noteworthy tunes and gothic atmospherics.

Thy Dark Serenity is the band’s second opus, following on from 2012’s debut As All Torn Asunder, and it’s the kind of record that will no doubt appeal to fans of My Dying Bride due to its oaken, creaking layers and melancholic shades.

Album opener is the unforgettable ‘I Forgive You’, which literally sweeps into the room on a deft keyboard tinkle before the mournful guitars and drums invade. But even then it has all the surreal atmosphere of a film soundtrack, something akin to cult television series Twin Peaks with its almost summery melody; the vocals are clear and as crisp as an autumn day. However, there is also a shift in mood with deeper, growling vocals taking over as the guitars soar and the track darkens.

‘A Raven’s Tale’ increases the doom level, emerging from the cracks like a silky apparition with a kicking drum and whining guitar. It’s the second longest track on the record, clocking in at just over eight minutes, and for the most part offers us a growling vocal and laborious pace and yet has all the grace of a herd of wildebeest charging across the grassy plane.

When Nothing Remains are certainly at the other end of the doom metal spectrum in that they have no need to mimic the stormy yawns of Black Sabbath and company, and a joint seems to be the last thing on their minds when churning out their epic misery.

The gargantuan ‘She Died In Autumn’s Rain’ gallops through the portcullis like some phantom black horse mounted by a headless rider on a dark and thunder-stricken night. It follows a similar path to the previous monolith, only pacier with its driving guitar and rumbling thunderclap bass. Orchestral arrangements puncture the slightly predictable chorus before the band slip into something more comfortable with the slow moving strains of ‘Wings Of The Withered’, with its folky pastures, grief-stricken guitar and sombre narration.

The title track is equally funereal and leads us to my favourite track on the record, the far-reaching ‘Like An Angel’s Funeral’ with its teary motion and sprinkles of gloom.

Admittedly, When Nothing Remains rarely alter the patterns of their songs, and for some Thy Dark Serenity may become a rather tiresome and predictable affair. ‘When Heaven Once Fell’ and closer ‘When We Stop Breathing’ are equally bleak, but the latter however stands alone as more of a sullen ballad with simple piano, and it’s a fitting way to end a half-decent doom metal record.

Neil Arnold

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