'Darkness in the Elegy Season' is one of the finest demo tapes released in the 1990's, indeed one of the four most depressing recordings these ears have ever heard, the other two being Thergothon's cornerstone of musical sorrow, 'Stream from the Heavens', Katatonia's opus of despair, 'Dance of December Souls' and Skepticism's ode to the opposite of happiness, 'Stormcrowfleet'. One thing I've come to like about doom bands is that many of them get a less than glowing production and that only helps them. Truly talented doom metal bands don't need fancy, million-dollar, glossed-over production to get the feeling of utter melancholy through to the listener. Thorns of the Carrion does that flawlessly on this demo tape.

Thorns of the Carrion mixes subdued guitars, muddy drums, floating keyboards and a variety of vocals ranging from clean to more-than-harsh to create a doom/death masterpiece of monstrous proportions. The somber emotion that flows from Thorns' music is incapacitating to say the least. Three songs (one being unlisted) make up this thirty-minute foray into the realm of musical depression--three lengthy songs.

Thorns of the Carrion are the best doom band to ever attempt mixing the "gothic" influence in with the pure doom/death platform. The dominating vocal style is either a rather tortured low growl or higher painful shriek. The cleaner male "gothic" vocals and some spoken vocals accompany the lead vocals. The music is usually a slothful crawl enhanced by unrelenting heaviness. The keyboards play an important role as they are used throughout each song and possibly bringing out the most melancholic sounds within the music. This is not music for happy people.

© 1999 goden