Tuesday, January 10, 2012

In Loving Memory - Negation Of Life (2011)



Showing off their deathly tones all the way from Spain is the band In Loving Memory. The melodic doom five piece have released their second full length studio album, entitled “Negation Of Life.” It’s nine destructive tracks that will leave you stunned with its depressive riffs and beautiful melodies. Crying solos will hypnotize you deep into the album as you will be rudely disturbed by vicious growls and bone crushing drum rolls.

This album starts out with a violent and powerful track, entitled “Even A God Can Die.” Screeching sounds poor into your ear with sharp frequencies leaving you flinching for the first few seconds of the song. Meanwhile eerie bass lines follow shortly after. Muddy guitars begin chugging away with soft strings floating in the background. The vocalist wastes no time as he begins the verse with a deep heaving growl that will knock you on your ass. Towards the middle of the track enters an interesting combination of guitars and piano riffs that play back and forth giving an evil yet beautiful tone to the music. Also the vocals switch on and off between growling and eerie whispers as the guitar chugging begins to get even heavier. It ends on an upbeat tempo with booming kicks and snares that are sure to leave you head banging for the rest of the song. You’re even hit with a melodic solo which really tops off this awesome track.

The next song, “Skilled Nihilism,” comes out of left field with its futuristic synth effects that sound like you’re walking into a dance club. This is quickly interrupted by mean distorted guitar riffs and catchy melodies. The drum fills in the track are very impressive and will have you throwing up your devil horns immediately. The mood calms down in the beginning of “Adversus Pugna Tenebras.” Non distorted guitars come rolling in smoothly while low clean vocals lay gently on top. The drums stay upbeat with interesting fills and crashing cymbals as the tempo starts to pick up. The vocals soon switch over to demonic growling along with distorted guitar riffs that blast away. The guitar work towards the middle of the track gets even heavier with its wild, melodic breakdowns and fast double bass pedal drumming. This calm down again for the bridge as a gorgeous guitar solo takes over and plays angelic melodies for about a minute straight. This is definitely a track that you’re gonna want to replay a couple of times.

A couple of song later comes a seven minute masterpiece, entitled “Shimmering Divinity.” It manages to combine melodic riffs with short breakdowns in between where the drop is just incredible. The bass alone will not only knock you down but also beat you into the ground recklessly as relentless growls roll over top of you with its vicious lyrics. The solo guitar work is astonishing as it will pull you deep into the music as the drum fills surround the background and capture for the rest of the track. You do, however, get a chance to catch your breath with the next song, entitled “Through A Raindrop.” It opens with a simple little acoustic melody that shortly after switches to electric. The cymbals are clashing hard in the background but the drums stay basic for the most part at first. The whispering clean vocals enter with eerie tones. Distorted guitars begin to take over with heavy chugging chords and thumping bass lines. The tempo stays steady throughout the song, however the vocals switch back to devilish growls that rumble across the guitars and drums perfectly. Definitely an awesome combination.

The album ends with “Nulla Religio, Solum Veritas” which carries a lot of emotion. Slow tempos of sad guitar riffs open the track as the drums deliver exploding rolls. The vocals enter with thunderous growls that will shake you violently throughout the track. It definitely has a strong doom feel to music. Strings play a small part as well as they consume the background during the middle of the song. Gorgeous melodic guitars keep the track catchy as the growls continue to deliver dark, depressive tones. By the end of this track you will be reaching for the replay button for sure.

In Loving Memory really goes above and beyond the death/doom genre as that provide dark melodies along with violent, yet gorgeous tones. “Negation Of Life” takes you into a whole other realm of demonic sadness and beauty. Each track runs smoothly into the next as the song structure is also well balanced between the vocals, solos, and other instruments. This is definitely an album worth picking up. It leaves you wanting more every time you listen to it.

9/10

Official Site - http://inlovingmemory.es/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/inlovingmemoryband

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