Sorrowful Land/I Remember/Solitude Productions/2018 CD Review

  Ukraine's  solo  project  Sorrowful  Land  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  atmospheric  style  of  funeral  doom/death  metal  of  his  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2018  album  "I  Remember"  which  will  be  released  on  October  26th  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  slow  and  heavy  funeral  doom  metal  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  as  well  as  all  of t he  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  used  at  times  as  well  as  the  music  also  having  its  atmospheric  moments  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  stringed  instruments  can  also  be  heard,  all  of  the  songs  have  a  different  singer  with  the  musicians being  from  some  well  known  bands  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slower  direction.

  Sorrowful  Land  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  atmospheric  style of  funeral  doom/death  metal  of  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  loneliness,  sorrow  and  grief  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Sorrowful  Land  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  atmospheric  funeral  doom/death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "When  The  World's  Gone  Cold"  and  "The  Kingdom  Of  Nothingness".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/sorrowfulland/

Sorrowful Land Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
1. Sorrowful Land was born in early 2014 as a collaboration act of  Peter Laustsen from Swedish band When Nothing Remains and me. Originally we planned to release a full-length album together but managed to record only one demo/promo song. Peter was too busy with his main band and abandoned Sorrowful Land, so I took control of all things and since then Sorrowful Land is my one-man project.

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
2. I’d say it’s more like a mix of doom-death metal with some gothic aprroach and funeral doom-metal moments that appear here and there. Pretty atmospheric too I guess. And gloomy at times. Overall I tried to create good catchy songs. Did I succeed? Let the listeners decide J

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you explore with your music?
3. When it comes to lyrics – first of all I write about my own feelings and life situations I’ve experienced. Also I`m fond of classic English and American poetry and from times to times I use poems as the basis for my lyrics.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sorrowful Land'?
4. Oh, it’s the interesting one! When we started in 2014 before even recording a single note me and Peter wanted to come up with a cool-sounding name. And the name came to me while I was sleeping at night. It appeared in my dream actually. Pretty funny, huh? And so when I got up next morning – I already had this name in my mind. It was like “that’s it and I must keep it!”. As for the meaning: it may describe either the whole planet that is full of sorrows or our particular country. You may know that Ukraine is facing hard times now. So for me this name does include several meanings.

5. With this project you record everything by yourself. Are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solo?
5. Let’s put it that way: I compose all the stuff and record it myself, that’s truth, but on the debut album I had two session musicians that actually recorded bass and drums parts. They did a great job and helped me a lot and I appreciate it. On the new record that’s called “Where The Sullen Waters Flow” – it’s all done by me. And yes, for the future records I’d love to have some special guests to work with! I even made a list already, but I won’t tell ya who’s in it, haha! J I do hope that this idea will come true.

6. The album was released on 'Solitude Productions, are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
6. Totally! I’m with Solitude Productions for 5 years now and it goes well enough! They are easy to work with and open-minded guys.
7
. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of funeral doom and doom/death?
7. Quite well I’d say. The debut album’s average score is 8 of 10 due to the reviews from webzines and magazines throughout the world. I think it’s good enough to get such ratings for the debutee, not to forget that doom-metal (especially funeral doom) is still a very underground genre. As for the fans – some liked it, some didn’t. It’s normal and usual thing for you to read: “AWESOME” today and tomorrow you may see: “AWFUL”.

8. What is going on with your other band 'Edenian' these days?
8. It would be honest to say that Edenian is on hiatus. It’s been three years or even more since our drummer left. And still we can’t find the right person to fill in. Sad but true. All members of Edenian play in new bands now so I dare not to say if we ever will play or record something new under Edenian name again.

9. Where do you see yourself heading into musically during the future?
9. I’m planning to record new Sorrowful Land full-length album. And it’s gonna be heavier than previous. Also I’m not planning to get stuck in doom-metal only and recently I’ve started a new band called Resolution. We play thrash-metal. I can’t foresee what the future holds – time will show.

10. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
10. Oh, tons of them in different genres! I won’t be original to say that my all-time favourite band is Metallica. Among the others (in no particular order) are: Slayer, Death Angel, Iced Earth, Kamelot, Trivium, Amon Amarth, Godsmack, Disturbed, Nickelback, and many others. As for the influences on Sorrowful Land music, it would be: Paradise Lost, Doom:VS, Saturnus, Katatonia, Swallow The Sun.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?
11. History, reading, uniformology and reenacting aka living history events.

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. First of all – go listen to the new Sorrowful Land EP “Where The Sullen Waters Flow” which is out on December, 15th and if you like it – support the project and label by buying the music! And of course – STAY DOOMY! \m/
Max Molodtsov
12.12.2017

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Sorrowful Land/Where The Sullen Waters Flow/Solitude Productions/2017 EP Review

  Sorrowful  Land  are  a  solo  project  from  Ukraine  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  funeral doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  ep  "Where  The  Sullen  Waters  Flow"  which  was  released  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Atmospheric  synths  start  off  the  album  while  also  using  a  variety  of amny  different  sounding  keys  along  with  some  whispers  also  being  used  briefly  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  more  melodic  and  heavier  style  of  funeral  doom  metal as  well  as  the  vocals  being  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls.

  A  great  amount  of  90's  era  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  elements  can  also  be  heard  throughout the  recording  while  spoken  word  parts  and  clean  playing  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  tracks  being  very  long and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Sorrowful  Land  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  funeral  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  90's  era  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  loneliness,  sorrow  and  grief  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sorrowful  Land  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  funeral  doom/death  metal  solos  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Night  Is  Darkening  Around  Me".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/sorrowfulland/


  

Sorrowful Land/Of Ruins/Solitude Productions/2016 CD Review

  Sorrowful  Land  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays an  atmospheric  form  of  funeral  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Of  Ruins"  which  was  released  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Clean  guitars  start  off  the  album before  going  into  a  heavier  and  atmospheric  direction  and  the riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  depressive  melodies along  with  a  great  amount  of  90's  influences  and  whispers  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  start  to  make  their  presence  known.

  Spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  which  also  gives  the  music  a touch of  black  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  atmospheric  synths  and  the  guitr  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Sorrowful  Land  plays  a  style  of  funeral  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  slow,  atmospheric,  dark  and  melodic  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  based  upon  19th  century  English  poetry.

  In  my  opinion  Sorrowful  Land  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  funeral  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "On  Another's  Sorrow"  and  "Echoes  Of  Endless  Space".  8  out  of  10.

Official Sorrowful Land Bandcamp