Pantheist - O Solitude
Firebox Records

Erik: Out of shame I bought this CD “O Solitude” on the last Belgian Doom Night, because I missed Pantheist for a meal. I have bought worse things out of shame, so I was delighted to hear such a great CD! I had no idea such great doom would spawn out of my Fatherland. Pantheist is merely great! Very heavy, musically as emotionally. Five great doom songs, lots of breaks, very heavy production (although it could be better in the drum parts). Lyrically it’s all doom related : being alone, dying, etc. Strong lyrical sense here! Sung or in Gregorian style, or double vocals or grunting. Maybe this is the best element of this CD! The artwork is, again, for this label great! But there are some minor points too: Too keyboard minded. I like keyboards, I do! But only if in addition to the song and not as the song itself. But that’s personal tough I guess. Furthermore variation in the song is reached by putting in extreme fast song part. To Cradle Of Filth standards!. It takes away the soul of the song if done so, shame, but again, that’s down to personal preference. The arrangements are too brusk, is my third remark, which makes the songs sometimes a bit too chaotic. Pantheist have delivered a great CD for sure, but there’s room for improvement.

Rating: 84/100

pan@doom-metal.com