My Top 5 Doom Metal Albums

1- Evoken: Atra Mors (2012)
2- Evoken: Antithesis of Light (2005)
3- Daylight Dies: Dismantling Devotion (2006)
4- Saturnus: Saturn in Ascension (2012)
5- My Dying Bride: The Dreadful Hours (2001)

Three Weeks at Consolidation Phase

Walking 5 km on fridays
Listening to Swallow The Sun and my mighty Evoken.

Suffer a Martyr's Trial

Take them from us, the pitiful ones
Pleading for bleak light's return... betrayed by impending dusk
Finding no solace in the deeply lowering gloom
They travel the path of the condemned in silent horror

Onward into the unspeakable, no savior awaits in forgiveness

Lead us unto ruin, devourer of hope
In night's solemn presence
The accursed procession approaches their destiny
Fields in neglect; unconsecrated by blood and monumental agony
Behold, crosses for the dead
Their distorted shadows forewarn the tragedy

The lurking fear tightens with each labored breath

May we curse the gods in our final hour; the ones they have abandoned
The dead and the dying; all sought in vain their own divine rescue
Begin the mortification of flesh, limbs transfixed upon wooded stakes
Extinction of thy very being;
Hammerfalls resound through the gently sloping hills...

Burn the dead now; let the ashes scatter without remembranceAs those without hope, forgotten in eternity

Evoken

Atra Mors On Its Way

Profound Lore Records finally confirmed: Evoken Breaks its 5 year silence with their new album "Atra Mors"(terrible death or dark death). There's no secret: i'm huge fan of Lyndhurst-based pioneers of funeral doom. Like many fans anticipating another spectacular album, i'm psyching about the content and style of Evoken in their latest work. Hopefully they won't back up and follow their solid trend. Evoken has been a permanent part of my life, i can remember each day of my internship listening to "Antithesis of Light" late at nights...

Seen as one of America’s forefathers of the death/funeral/doom metal movement and having forged in the early nineties where the New Jersey outfit, by incorporating such influences as old-school Paradise Lost, Disembowelment, Thergothon etc. would carve their own legacy in the annals of the doom metal movement as one of its pinnacle and essential bands.  With a career spanning almost 20 years and four unparalleled full-length albums, all essential and classic in their own right, that define EVOKEN’s repertoire, “Atra Mors” (the Latin translation for “Black Death”) signals a new chapter and turning point in the EVOKEN legacy.

Recorded and committed to tape over a six-month period at Sound Spa studios in Edison, New Jersey, “Atra Mors” sees EVOKEN comprise their most ambitious album to date.  While still upholding the utterly colossal, apocalyptic, and extraordinary heaviness the band have become synonymous for, “Atra Mors” sees EVOKEN embrace new ground by experimenting a bit more with the use of ambience and atmosphere, deploying a stronger sense of melody (and moments of tranquility) during some of the album’s discourse along with delivering moments that harken back to the ancient days of pure old-school death metal.

@Profound Lore Records

My Album Of the Month (February)

"The definitive doom album of the new millennium. Evoken's second full-length CD combines dark, haunting atmospheres with soul-crushing riffs and the heaviest, thickest production ever heard. Clocking in at well over an hour, be prepared to journey into landscapes of gloom-drowned subterranean worlds where the music of lost souls is eternally played by avatars of Orpheus. Quietus displays an unparalleled mastery of doom metal, establishing Evoken as leaders in this burgeoning genre. Prepare for the desolation of your soul..."
@nnm.ru

My Album of The Month (January)

Evoken : A Caress of The Void 2007

I found some novel dimensions of their music.The concept is surprisingly familiar entwined with illustrious verses and words.Evoken is for and about the patient listener.It's against all trade marks and commercial tips.It's dark,deep and desolate.

Once you feel it's simply easy with down-tunned slow guitar riffs and sluggish tempo,but that's exactly where the paradox arises; they've created a unique sound ,a theatrical vision and a horror atmosphere at a near perfect level.

The ensemble of piano/keyboard ,bass, lead guitar and the combination of Death growl/soft whispers is a solid composition. Undoubtedly one of the pioneers of Funeral Doom .

My favorite tracks are:

Astray in Eternal Night

Suffer A Martyr's Trial(Procession at Dusk)

and

Orogeny

Pedram Feb 5

Astray In Eternal Night

Woeful wraith, obscured in veils of stalking night
Once again, reliving the final fragments of a bygone dream
Too long, you have languished in this desolate place
Perdition of your soul, suffer now forevermore
With a glance that turned my heart'- blood to frost
She descended each stair with unearthly grace

The dust-ridden scent of abandoned tombs, like perfume
Awakened by an unrevealed longing, perhaps to live again
Free from the pains of mortality, the vast unknown
The frail dreams of life buried deep beneath the confinements of earth

Sleep again, restless Eidolon
Return to non-existence, tranquillity in the silence of coffins
Your eyes of misted glass
Mesmerise and who but I drawn forward
Lost in a reverie of tears

With a voice long forsaken
A promise of eternal bliss was spoken
Turning away from that aura of coldest intent
For I saw nothingness: A blackest chasm of despair
And yet I still covet thee

Evoken 
Pic : Vincos  http://vincos.it/

My Album of The Month(October)

Melancholic ,Majestic and beautiful...all i can say about this album. What makes Evoken so especial is the authenticity of their music,words and themes. It might seem weird but i'm sure the band follows a keen interest in humanism. I watched the official video-clip for "In pestilence,Burning".The first time, i couldn't stand more than a minute of it ,scenes of Auschwitz  extermination camp,the crematorium in the main Auschwitz camp,the ovens...
This music is about pain, about solitude ,despair, and i want to say it's mostly about human .Evoken follows splendid concerns ,sagely dissects the issues as it reflects in lyrics.
Quiets was a notable step forward for doom metal genre,with keyboard beautifully integrated with the whole dynamics of doom music,added a novel dimension to the genre and deepened the somber sound. 
Added to this the crushing riffs ,excellent production and specifically  i want to pay tribute to the most gifted singer John Paradiso.Paradiso manages to carry the burden of gloomy theme and complex senses of horror and melancholy .An unbelievable mix of desperate growls  and melancholic whispers makes a favorable outcome. During my internship at Imam hospital i  stayed wide awaken with Evoken music and the music convey the essence of the period most perfectly.
Evoken music is something special,for special tastes.Certainly not recommended to those who  prefer to follow the popular trend of skating on the surface. 

In Pestilence,Burning

Where the silence moves with every beast.
Beneath them sits the wrath of their sickness
No Mercy,
No Pity,
Wind swept sands of the blistering light.
Farewell greenfields and birds of flight...

They dream on banks of summer beyond the beauties of the world.
When jealousy shall shadow thou woeful plague.
Pestilence burning seized with the tears of dying children.
I am nothing in rapturous trance... 


Evoken

Cold Caress

It's more than music;more than simple hobby,when the sound targets deeper layers of cognition,it's a rare classy experience nowadays;finding the pure revelation of what goes inside.

I lived with the growls,i felt the agony the bleak atmosphere ...it's all familiar to what i've felt,all these years ,every 5:30 morning rise-up,every moment of mine being secluded...

Solitude;a key element of my life...now i really adore this kingdom of mine;to share this with people who ruin all the senses,denying all the beauty with their color blind eyes?

This was the honest sound;ringing in my ear...and i am to listen to them...to feel them

It's a privilege to understand the difficult distorted screams;the inoccent who don't find another way to express their pale existence .

It's a honor belonging to a minority ...

Orogeny

Inescapable,
Earth collapsing, deforming,
Through the immensity of tectonic pressure,
Metamorphosis,
Slowly rising through countless eons,
From primal chaos and upheaval,
There is creation,

The pressure is inescapable

Evoken