Source of Deep Shadows - Source of Doom and Perpetual Night

I got to know this doom death band from Poland four years ago due to release of really deep underground label Endless Desperation from Russia, few songs of Source of Deep Shadows were included in split-CD "Infinity in Souls" and I note these Polish doom-bringers among another bands - Lake of Depression (Panama), Crepuscularia and Quazar (Russia) because they were really worth of being noted! Source of Deep Shadows demonstrated their doom-skills in the best possible way recording four tracks and realizing few good and dark ideas through them. Well, quality of record - it was a only problem, yes, it was raw… But some dishes are better to take cold.

With some delay - which however doesn't spoil my joy - I finally have received band's full-length CD "Source of Doom And Perpetual Night", and I must admit these men continues their play with limits of the genre even on this release - they pick up the most of edge but don't go further. They can put out hard - almost death - riffing as on a track "Hidden Doom", they can mix threatening growl and melancholic acoustic guitar ("Poranek"), they even can make bloody brain-crushing mush as into "?ród?o G??bokich Cieni" and they do it into that song so fast that I was starting to think that they wanted to become an black-doom band but such extreme is no longer manifested, so I'm able to get my breath again. Lyrics of Source of Deep Shadows are in Polish and it sounds very intrigue when Dod (voiceman) both growls or declaims his texts with a normal voice, such vocal lines add to the album specific originality especially since they are surprisingly legible for me. Oh and with heavy heart I must admit that it reminds about Zaraza (R.I.P.) who left us a few years ago. Doom metal from Eastern Europe is still rare - you have to agree, maybe that's why it is so colorful… and I will not confuse the sound of this band with anything else.

Men of Source of Deep Shadows are not indifferent to a hard labor therefore they were able to achieve interesting results with their album though after few listens the CD leaves a strange impression onto me and I still wonder which equipment the guys used during their record-session. But as I said I like their raw "cellar" sound - damn, yes, it really gives them another couple of points for this release! (as well as that unusual backbreaking growl and atmospheric fragments of their songs) It seems to be good when Dod roars thunderously at full power but a dull, more "human" growl sounds cool too - check track "Martwa" for example which make the band close to sacred canon of funeral. Unobtrusive roughness and underground charm makes "Source of Doom And Perpetual Night" a very worthwhile album for me, it is not a compilation of melancholic gloomy serenades but surely somnolent sketches from very heart of Polish catacombs. And dare I guess that those who listened to doom death bands about 15-18 years ago will experience some light pleasant  longing for these days because this music keeps fractions of the past.

Source of Deep Shadows is sometimes compared to early Katatonia somehow, but I would not do such haste supposition, although for convenience, we could be followed this tradition, but why? And even cover-version of Paradise Lost's "Eternal" doesn't make me feel that Source of Deep Shadows are zealous followers of those English gentlemen just because the band needs no such postscripts - for now they have their own face. I like this CD and look forward to the new album, which is already written and should appear shortly for sale.
Review By Aleks Evdokimov

Source Of Deep Shadows Myspace