To Cast A Shadow – In Memory Of CD Digipak

To Cast A Shadow – In Memory Of CD-Digipak (Kolony) Superbly engaging gothic doom metal band from Norway in a deluxe digipack with lyrics booklet. The songs are generally driven by very heavy, dense and crunchy riffing with extended clean guitar melodies weaving in and out of the arrangements. The riffing is traditional doom style, combining deep bass and rhythm guitars into a crushingly heavy, slow-to-mid paced atmospheric wall-of-sound with subtle but frequent changes in texture. The clean guitar melodies have a classic, somewhat power metal feel to them, and their variety and length provide an almost progressive touch to many of the songs. Although ‘In Memory Of’ is largely melancholic, there are occasional faster passages featuring a festive gothic groove reminiscent of Draconian. There are practically no keys at all. It is absolutely hypnotic when given a dedicated, focused listen, yet can be quite nondescript as background music. Part of the magic is the subtly changing texture of the arrangements combined with their sheer power and majesty, and part of it is Gunnhild’s enchanting vocal delivery with her mesmerizing flow back and forth from deliberate alto and soprano to melancholy chanting.