Autumnal - Grey Universe
Xtreem Music

file under Doom metal

Vera: During the Doomination of Europe tour 2003 of Morgion, Mourning Beloveth and The Prophecy, there frequently used to be a local doom metal band opening the evening. In Spain it was Autumnal. They play slow, mournful doom/death metal along the old accepted lines, suggestive of My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Anathema and the infamous underrated (Dutch) Celestial Season in the early nineties. They prefer to keep their extensive elegies pure, without the later additives injected to the genre.

The band came into being in 1996, is native of Madrid (Spain) and only vocalist/guitarist Javier De Pablo, drummer Ricardo De Pablo and guitarist Andrés who rejoined the band are the original members in their ranks. The manifold use of cello - the only woman in the band Maria Inglemo is responsible for that - sure gives them a proper identity. It is likely that the coming and going of musicians happens to be the reason why the band only released some demos until now. ‘Grey Universe’ is their first full length album, but recordings were done way back in September/October 2005. At last Xtreem Music released the album in 2006, the year as well when the new line-up was tested live a couple of times.

One cannot talk about a blitz career at all. It seems as if the success of the band is directly proportional to the speed of their music. Three songs out of six are about ten minutes long and I have to admit that the band does not succeed in keeping my attention all the time. Firstly the production is not that well. Secondly clean vocals are susceptible to improvement from time to time. And thirdly compositions are lacking the real kick. Yes, I know, it is a thin line between touching your heart and becoming too pathetic, yet I keep on struggling with a feeling that it could have been better, even though I applaud the decision of the band to keep their music pure and straight from the heart, without compromising on trends. Sometimes Anathema’s melancholy seems to be the main influence, on the other hand the cello refers a lot to Celestial Season, but without being on that level. Since ‘Grey Universe’ is quite old, I hope that the band soon surprises us with some new things.

Rating 73/100 (details)

http://www.autumnal.net