Rising Of Yog - Sothoth - Tribute To Thergothen - V/A

The original idea for this tribute album to Thergothen came up in 2007 and now it is finally available from the great work of Solitude Productions. This a 2 CD set that will appeal to fans of Thergothen or fans of funeral doom who may not have even heard of the band. This is a real possibility as to this day the band remains underground but they are more popular now than they ever were when they were together. Thergothen formed in 1990 and they released a couple of demo's which are still well sought after in the underground scene. Their first full length album "Stream from the Heavens" was released to mixed reactions in 1994. The mixed reactions came from the fact that not many people were ready for a band that played so slow as Thergothen, some of the material was almost drone-like and that was still very much a new concept back in those days. Unfortunately two members (Niko Sirkiä and Jori Sjöroos) went on to form "The Empty Flow" which ended up being a kind of trip-hop band. How you can go from funeral doom to a musical style like trip-hop is beyond me but that is exactly what happened. Niko Sirkiä currently records experimental electronic music and runs a record label called "Some Place Else".

I must clarify something, i generally don't like tribute albums, usually they sound slopped together and the versions of songs often sound like half-assed with production values of various qualities. This is not one of those, this is well recorded and all the versions of songs are extremely played that keep faithful to the original versions. This is put together different than most tribute albums, it has two versions of each song done by two different bands leaving the listener to pick their favorite which is a little tough in some cases because there is not any weak versions here. Asunder and Inter Arbores both do great versions of "Who Rides The Astral Wings", personally i think Asunder wins that battle but not by much. Officium Taste and AArni give us versions of "Crying Blood And Crimson Snow", in this case Officium Taste deliver a superior version of the song. Evoken and Astral Sleep do "Yet The Watchers Guard" and both versions kill, i really like the sound of Astral Sleep so i will be seeking out more from that band. The great Imindain and Krohm do versions of "Everlasting" and they are both good renditions of the song but i think Imindian nail the track more than Krohm. Colosseum and the very obscure act Otzepenevshiye give us "The Unknown Kadath In The Cold Water". This is one of my least favorite Thergothen tracks but both versions are good, strong takes on the song. Mournful Congregation and Axis Of Advance deliver "Elemental" to the table, here there is no doubt that Mournful Congregation do the better version. Not surprising seeing how monumental that band is already, they are clearly one of the best bands in the genre anyway and they don't let anyone down here.

Worship and another obscure band called Nojda have recorded average versions of "Evoken". I would have thought the Worship version would have killed but it sounds a bit rushed but it is still alright and certainly doesn't take anything away from the album. Umbra Nihil and Singultus with "The Twilight Fade" are both strong additions. The odd track out is "Dancing In The Realm Of Shades" which is a very rare Thergothen track only available on a rehearsal live tape that is much sought after by collectors. Its performed by Persistence In Mourning and they do the song some serious justice with a great version, they really bring the song to life. Out of the two discs, disc one seems to be the stronger of the two overall with the second disc being made up of the more obscure bands. Like mentioned before, the production is awesome and considering bands on here are from all over the world including Great Britain, Finland, Russia, USA, Netherlands, Australia, Germany and Canada. To put all this together is a achievement the record label should be proud of and its one of the best releases ever on Solitude Productions. Thergothen fans and funeral doom fans will want this and if you have never check out Thergothen before, this is a damn introduction to the band although hearing the real thing might be a better option. This is one of the best tribute albums ever but having 2 versions of the same song is a bit overkill but you can pick your favorite versions and run with it. Still a essential purchase for fans of Thergothen and funeral doom. 9/10

Thergothon @ Myspace