Band: Sonne Adam
Title: Transformation
Label: Century Media (CD) / Imperium Productions (LP)
Distribution: EMI
Release date: April 4th 2011
Review: CD

Sonne Adam are a young Israeli band, created to honour bands like Paradise Lost and Morbid Angel. The band recorded two EP’s (of which one remains unreleased to date) and over a year ago, they recorded the material for the debut album – the latter being released on major Century Media (vinyl edition through Imperium, like the second 7”EP, Armed With Hammers).

Transformation is an amazing debut! The album opens with We Who Worship The Black, which starts with a massive Doom / Sludge riff, turning into a funereal version of Paradise Lost’s earliest years (the pre-Gothic-period) – and indeed including some of the melodious elements from Gothic as well.
Most of the pieces on the album are, widely considered, comparable: Lost Paradise- or Gothic-alike Ultra-Death-Doom with a sludgy approach and the misanthropic, blaspheme and evil touch of the nastiest (North) American (think Morbid Angel -especially God Of Emptiness has been of influence?-, Incantation, Immolation) and (North) European (Funebre, Thergothon, Therion (the early days of course!), Morgoth, a.m.m.) Death-combos from the Glorious Past.
With the addition of proper elements, both ambient and atmospheric…

The sound of Transformation is rough and reminds me most to the Swedish Death Metal sound era late eighties-early nineties. It means ‘brutal’, it means ‘intens(iv)e’, and for bringing back, and focusing on the essence of Nineties Doom-Death with such superiority, it means Majesty!
This album is one of the strongest and most convincing Old School Doom-Death Metal recordings I’ve heard since the Old School turned into New School. Only Holland’s Faal are as adorable…

92/100

Ivan Tibos.