Cosmic Despair - "Celebration Of The Wake" ...

Cosmic Despair are a Norwegian/Polish funeral doom band in the vein of Thergothon, end of review. Well not really but if you know Thergothon then the music here will be more than a touch predictable. To be fair, the funeral doom here isn't bad for what it is but it is so damn predictable and at times, it all seems overly dull, even by funeral doom standards. What saves the album from being completely forgettable is the songs are short, well short for a funeral doom band that is. The bulk of this album is made up of 5 minute tracks or less and that works in the bands favor. If these were typical funeralized doom epics, it would be a very boring affair but thankfully, they keep the songs fairly straight to the point.

The way they approach the funeral doom genre is also mixed with a generic death-doom feel at times, think My Dying Bride meets Ahab and you would be getting close to the sound of Cosmic Despair. However there is little to get excited about here. Songs drift along with zero surprises and if you could manufacture in your mind, a funeral doom band, it would sound something like this. Funeral doom has always been about being slow, slower and even slower still and this band follows that formula to the letter but bands like Ahab et al have subtle variations within their dirges, Cosmic Despair have virtually no variations at all. Tempos never change and the way songs start is also the way they finish. If you are totally in love with the funeral doom genre, you will find this album an acceptable slab of doom but if you are easily bored, avoid this.

The album is heavy and atmospheric but that is where my interest ends.......4/10.

Words: Sally Bethhall

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