The latest release from Santiago’s Aura Hiemis is an impressively heavy and emotional work comprising of five colossal funeral doom tracks that march solemnly on, bleeding into the listener’s subconscious.
The entire album is cloaked in a brooding atmosphere, and opener ‘Black Dream’ sets the pace well. Melancholic arpeggios are augmented by subtle synths, lurching forward into a chugging, hulking beast of a track adorned with guttural, foreboding vocals. ‘Eve’ is even heavier; laced with stone wall thick guitars, it trudges along at snail’s pace, slowly enveloping us in its gloom.
Instrumental ‘Between The Mist I Find You’ has one of the most mournful melodies of the album, and is a true highlight. The absence of vocals does the track no disservice as melancholic, plaintive guitar melodies take the lead and ring out over those 80s style gothic synths once again, creating an immersive and beautifully dark soundscape. It’s quite gorgeous.
Leaning more toward the melodic side of funeral doom than the abrasive, much of what is on offer here often recalls classic doom bands such as Candlemass and My Dying Bride. In taking the more accessible and (whisper it) tuneful components of doom and applying them to the suffocating heaviness of funeral doom, Aura Hiemis have once again created a darkly irresistible sound.
Wenn Der Regen Fällt is available now via Australis Records and can be purchased here.
Words: Adam Pegg
