The 11th Hour - Burden Of Grief

The 11th Hour is a side project from Ed Warby (drummer for Death Metal bands such as Gorefest, Hail Of Bullets and Demiurg) and Rogga Johansson (singer/guitarist for more old school Swedish death bands like Paganizer, Ribspreader, Revolting and Bone Gnawer so it is quite a shock to hear them doing Doom Metal especially something this true to the Traditional Doom Metal formula. On this Ed Warby plays everything and sings some parts with Rogga Johansson handling the rest of the vocals. The first thing I must do is give you a heads up over the packaging, I have read there is two versions of it. One you get the basic product and the other is you get a booklet complete with lyrics which is worth having because there is a deep concept to the songs and its worth reading.The lyrics are displayed like the journal of the dying character. The artwork on the front cover is breath-taking and is almost worth the price alone but the music within is pretty much a case of heard it all before a million times. Lets start with the concept, its a story about a dude a guy dying of lung cancer, and going to each step from the announcement that it is terminal to his actual death. If that is not a good idea for a Doom Metal album, then I don't what is. Its a harrowing tale that is well executed, well written and thought provoking. There is two main sides to the music, one with the clear voice that reminds you of classic Traditional Doom Metal in the style of Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus and then there is the more Death Metal style vocals of Rogga Johansson that gives the band a more of a Death/Doom sound. For the most part the band are playing by the rulebook without offering anything new, just a generic interpretation of Classic Doom Metal. There is some orchestrations, with violins carefully inserted to add emotion to the sad tale. Its these passages where the band sounds the most original, the rest of it is pretty standard Traditional meets Epic Death Doom. The best tracks are at the start and the end of the album, the opener "One Last Smoke" is so much like Candlemass it would fit right in on their "Death Magic Doom" album. The final track is "Longing For Oblivion" a intelligently inter-woven theme of a dying man's last moments, concluded by the cold beeping of a life-support machine that comes to a end. In between those two track however you get tracks like "Origins of Mourning" and "Weep for Me" that while they have all the trademarks of what could be considered Classic Doom Metal, for me they sound lifeless and devoid of any real emotional content that the lyrics deserved. Having said all that I don't want to put this down too much as it is still better than a lot of other Doom albums that are out there and it serves as a good meeting point for Traditional Doom fans and lovers of Extreme Doom. Mainly for fans of Candlemass, Isole, Doomsword and Solitude Aeturnus but some Death Metal fans might like it also, even just for the novelty value. I know this review may upset some people as this album has already got some amazing reviews, for me it seems a little incomplete. Give it a listen and make up your own mind on this one. 7/10

www.myspace.com/11thhourdoom