Eyes of Ligeia - A Fever Which Would Cling To Thee Forever review artwork

Rating: 8.1

Country: USA

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. The Stillness Fades
2. The Shadow Out of Time
3. A Strange and Fitful Presence
4. What the Moon Brings, Part II
5. Watcher in the Water
6. A Fever Which Would Cling to Thee Forever
7. As the Ravens Descend from the Tower

Band Website: Eyes of Ligeia

Eyes of Ligeia - A Fever Which Would Cling To Thee Forever

Dante - Guitars, Vocals, Keyboards
Amon Demogorgon - Drums, Guest Vocals on “The Stillness Fades”
Karnivian A’ano’nin Occaxial - Bass, Guest Vocals on “As the Ravens Descend from the Tower

While black and doom metal are known for crossing over into other genres, whether metal or not, the fusion between black and doom metal is still rather rare in comparison to all the other combinations. One can only wonder why, since it would seem to be a perfect match. When it does happen it usually involves a band that is primarily black metal oriented taking on doom metal characteristics. In this rare instance it is the reverse. Eyes of Ligeia is an already longstanding doom metal project, originally the sole creation of Dante, that evolved from a more traditional doom metal act into a minimalistic funeral drone doom monster, before making the somewhat surprising switch to the slightly more complex, black-doom hybrid it is now, with a complete live-capable line-up to boot.

While the old doom metal influences are still present, it now has much more in common with albums like Bethlehem's Dictius te Necare, Belenos' Notre Amour Eternels, and the debuts of Krohm, Forgotten Tomb and Faustcoven. Especially the last three sound relatively close to A Fever…, though each in different respects. Even though Dante is credited with keyboards, these only show up in short interludes, the songs themselves are wholly guitar-driven, employing a harmonised attack of a pair of clean sounding guitars tuned to a somewhat lower pitch than is typical for black metal, which is further reinforced with a pretty audible bass complimenting the riffs. This harmonised guitar-sound gives a notably spectral sound to the songs. Understated drumming forms the backbone, mostly staying in a fastish mid-pace and very rarely speeding up beyond that. Dante's screaming stays snugly in the background, like some lost and sad spirit (yes, the Burzum influence can be quite upfront); it's not very exciting in itself, but appropriate to the music.Guitar-fuzz seems to surround the sound of the guitars themselves as a separate entity, while some very creepy acoustic guitars pop up from time to time to lend a hand in creating an extremely gloomy atmosphere.

Which lets me segue nicely into talking about that atmosphere, which blankets this release like a fog. Eyes of Ligeia finds its lyrical inspiration primarily in Edgar Allen Poe, with some further nods to Lovecraft, and the music itself follows suit. Like the better doom metal acts, Eyes of Ligeia's particular brand of atmosphere is all about oppressive, twilit gloom, dark rituals and acquiring ancient, soul-destroying knowledge. Most of the riffing is in a slower, melodic style, with the odd tremolo segment appearing now and again, following bleak, oppressive and sometimes even threatening motifs, always sounding heavy and dark in a way that hearkens back to the seminal early Black Sabbath material. The songs take a long time to develop, dragging the listener through tortuously long, murky segments, ever deeper into the abyss, stopping now and then for a break featuring reverbed accoustics echoing off unseen walls in the surrounding gloom-filled soundspace, before marching forth again in a steady gait, ever downwards into regions where inhuman things lurk just beyond the shadows.

This is a pretty damned interesting release, combining the more sinister type of doom metal with certain black metal techniques to provide additional alienating and chilling effects, whilst stepping around some of the cliches of both genres that style-mashing bands often fall into. Not only is this a greatly evocative album in its own right, it can also serve as a bridge from one sub-genre into the other. I for one have become a lot more interested in finding albums of Thergothon, Saint Vitus and Evoken for instance. I can't wait to see how this band will further develop in the future, but until their next release I have more than enough to occupy myself with in the form of this solid piece of oppressive black doom metal.

December 18th, 2006