Band: Black Wreath
Title: A Pyre Of Lost Dreams
Label: Head Not Found
Distribution: Suburban
Release date: 21/01/2010
Review: CD

Although Black Wreath were formed in 2002, it took until Summer 2008 before the band started recording material properly. As a matter of fact, the members did give priority to their other bands – bass player Dave Müller is involved with Chasing Eudaimonia, vocalist / drummer Peter Mesnickow with Blazing Eternity, and guitar player / keyboardist / vocalist / drummer Kim Larsen might be the best known – think about, for example, :Of The Wand And The Moon:, Saturnus, Blazing Eternity, Forseti (session), Sonne Hagal (session) or The Loveless; but, luckily, their common passion for ominous Über-Doom kept them slumberly awakened…
Anyway, I’m glad they finally entered the Soundscape Studio with engineer Louise Nipper (:Of The Wand And The Moon: etc), and I’m glad they were able to sign to Head Not Found, because finally here it is: their debut album!
A Pyre Of Lost Dreams consists of four tracks, having a total running time of fifty minutes. Indeed, it’s rather clear we’re talking about some Doom-stuff right now. And what a material this is… the first three tracks, The Black Holes Of Your Mind (15:31) (with cold, spherical violin lines, by the way, done by Anne Eltard), Nocturnal Dominion (13:12) and Solitude Rising (Missing All Exits) (14:03), stand for a very oppressing, desolate and depressing form of Funeral-oriented Doom / Doom-Death, with a rather monotonous approach, a grim and winterly atmosphere and a ultra-heavy droning sound. These tracks sound hypnotic and melodic at the same time and each of them overwhelms you with the sweet marriage of passion / pleasure and pain.
Final track, Nidstöng, is an ambient piece, instrumental, somewhat creepy, somewhat industrialised, very monotone, a cold soundscape that perfectly epilogues (damn, those neologisms…) this beautiful journey through man’s darkest spheres.

This album was worth waiting for so long, but please, next time, don’t make us wait that long anymore, please!

90/100

Ivan Tibos.