It's been so long since I've heard anyone do this particular style of doom/death that I've almost forgotten how good it can be...almost! Eyes Of Ligeia (the project of one Toby Chappell) are a band that musically recall the heyday of UK styled doom/death (Anathema, My Dying Bride, etc.) before it's downfall into neo-hippy gothic love song drivel that so many of the bands have "progressed" (HA!) into. What we've got here is just under 30 minutes (laid out across three tracks) of *pure* melancholy wrapped in the most sombre of tones. Eyes Of Ligeia (the name is taken from an Edgar Allan Poe story as some of the more read amongst you might have noticed) take a healthy dose of My Dying Bride, throw in a bit of Anathema, and for good measure, also add a dash of Sabbathesque (circa Sabotage) guitar progressions and end up giving us something that's not too dissimilar from the above mentioned acts, but there's also a certain something else in there which makes me think to myself "hmm...you know, if Thergothon or Funeral ever sped up their stuff a bit, this might have been what it would have sounded like". Productions is of the "dry" variety - everything is very crisp and well represented in the mix, and while there isn't the usual bottom heavy bass overload that's usually found on this type of thing, it in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the music. My only problem with the mCD is that the drums sound a bit too "separated" from everything else - they have a VERY live feel to them. While everything else gels completely together due to a very cohesive production, the drums stick out a bit too much in the mix due to their "under-produced" sound. Sill, this is more nit-picking than anything else, and considering this is the bands first release, we can forgive them for such a slight transgression. Highlights of the CD ? Well, I'm predisposed to slower, more melodic passages when it comes to this type of stuff, so I'd have to say the ending to the first track ("Watcher In The Water") and the last 1/3 of final track, "To Drown Beyond The Sunset / Perhaps Someday Softer Rains Will Come".

If you're looking for something to appease that hunger you've had ever since the fall of the British doom empire, Eyes Of Ligeia come highly recommended - I've no idea how widely available this is, but my guess is that one of the two links below (both the official Eyes Of Ligeia website and the Unsung Heroes Records website) should provide you with an outlet in which to purchase this...

Eyes Of Ligeia
http://evoken.gsu.edu/eyes
eyes@evoken.gsu.edu

Unsung Heroes Records
http://www.mindspring.com/~lordvic/uhr/


© 1999 chorazaim