APOSTOLUM

Italy's APOSTOLUM are clearly fans of atmospheric doom, albums by bands like early KATATONIA and PARADISE LOST certainly taking up space on shelves in their homes. Enjoying it and playing it are two complete different things though, and the band should probably stick to the former, as the 34-minute "Anedonia" MCD has its moments, but is ultimately a forgettable release.

The album starts out well enough with ethereal instrumental "Prologue (Maya Ixtab)", which is taken from "Nekromantik 2", the combination of piano and acoustic guitars with symphonic touches providing hope for the rest of the album. "Deep Dark Waters" has a similar vibe before the doom riffing begins and Meba's weak growls and spoken bits being, the end result a song that is mediocre at best. And then the album takes a sharp turn for the worse. An already so-so song to begin with, "Anxiety Attack" falls flat on its face when Meba employs vocals that, had I not known better, could have been sung by Gonzo from "The Muppets"; just friggin' terrible. "Brave" turns out to a fairly strong tune with an enchanting melody. Well, of course the song is compositionally solid; it's a cover of an old KATATONIA tune. You'd be much better off sticking with the original. The album ends the way it began, with a dark instrumental track called "Epilogue (Days of Crucifiction)" that is appealing enough. That an album's highpoints ("Brave" aside) are its intro and outro speaks volumes about its worthiness.

In all fairness, a vast improvement in the vocal department would have made "Anedonia" a better album, as the some of the music is at least tolerable. One does get the sense that the guys are on the right track. Regardless, APOSTOLUM has a long way to go before making an album worth the retail price. Moribund rarely releases sub par albums. Unfortunately, this one, along with FEAR OF ETERNITY's output, can be counted among those releases. You can do much better in the doom department than "Anedonia".