Band: Ablaze In Hatred
Title: The Quietude Plains
Label: Firedoom / Firebox
Distribution: LSP Music
Release date: 16/04/2009
Review: CD

In 2004, Juhani Sanna and Mika Ikonen started the band Ablaze In Hatred in Helsinki, Finland. Soon this duo was joined by members of Searing Meadow and Fall Of The Leave, and their first official recording, the promotional mini-album Closure Of Life, drew attention of Finland’s most important Doom-label Firebox. The debut album Deceptive Awareness got released in 2006 and was welcomed with open arms within the international Doom/Death scene.
This second full length studio album was recorded, again, at the small Noisecamp Studio with Kari Nieminen, and the seven songs last for more than an hour. Ablaze In Hatred (Mika-v, g, k; Juhani-g; Antti Hakkala-d; Eve Kojo-k; and Miska Lehtivuori-b) created a natural and logical successor of Deceptive Awareness through a pretty traditional melancholic and atmospheric form of (old school) Doom-Death Metal. The band injects its music, that might be compared to early Anathema, with some own elements, and even though the level of originality is almost un-existing, the band never just copies anything. The compositions are very mature and intelligent, the performance is all right, and the sound (mix = Kari N.; production = the band; mastering = Joona Lukala) is both organic and powerful. Besides, the overwhelming oppression within the Doom-spheres, partly caused by rather original keyboard lines from time to time, is of an extremely high yet freezing / moonlit level, which adds a certain gloomy feeling of true emotions (not the weak neo-goth kind, a soft and fake pandemic sickness in Finland – and other countries).
There exists a limited (1,000 copies) slipcase version, including two cover tracks, resp. by Entombed and Verenpisara; the latter with vocals by MyGrain’s Tommy.

88/100

Ivan Tibos.