Frailty - Lost Lifeless Lights (2008)

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After listening to their 2007 promo, Frailty caught our ears with their crushing Death/Doom Metal in a way that no band since the early 2000’s and late 90’s had done it. Hailing from Latvia, this band keeps the Death/Doom Metal flame alive and delivers 9 crushing tracks in their first full-length “Lost Lifeless Lights”.

Quickly after their Intro song, the band treats us to some crushing guitar riffs in the traditional vein of bands like Saturnus, Mourning Beloveth, Shape of Despair, etc. With the traditional tuning of Doom Metal music, the band’s riffing is very crushing in the sense that is simple, desolate and authoritative. The growls quickly make their presence and the traditional atmospheric passages soon follow. “I Know Your Pain” is the prefect song to create a depressing and monumental atmosphere to surround this release.

In the song “Ariadne”, Frailty introduces some clean vocals alongside the growls, and while we are not big fans of them, after a few spins they start to grow on you. Other songs like “The River of Serpents” feature a more Funeral Doom oriented style, but not as painfully slow as traditional Funeral Doom. For us, tracks like “The Fall of Eve” and “Graphics in Ebony” that feature the exact balance of brutality and slow-mournful moments are the most appealing in this release since they showcase a very dynamic band that is capable of making good (and different) songs.

The atmospheric sections of songs like “A Summer to Die” (especially near the end), “The Scorn” (very Saturnus like and very awesome) and the Monro cover “Lugsana” show the band’s ability to craft haunting atmospheres and maintain their aggressiveness all in one song. The keyboards are greatly utilized for these atmospheric purposes alongside with clean guitars. This is probably the most important thing that makes a Death/Doom band successful in creating appealing music.

Eight out of nine songs clock over 6 minutes and the album provide a solid 67 minutes of monumental Death/Doom that will have all the fans of the genre head banging since the first song. Frailty follows the traditional Death/Doom Metal formula perfectly and they craft solid songs with all the right structures and the correct elements to quickly get noticed in this genre. Lack of originality might be what some people bitch and moan about, but in this genre, as long as the riffs are not completely ripped off and the growls suck, this is not a determent for fans of the genre to enjoy and album.

In genera, the band nicely arranged the songs in an order that will allow you to fully enjoy the release without having moments of snoring due to repetition. If you are looking for a powerful release that features crushing Death/Doom Metal songs, go and get this release immediately since it’s one of the best in the last few years.

Band: Frailty Album: Lost Lifeless Lights
Label: Solitude Productions / P3lican

Release: 2008

Official Site myspace
Genre: Death/Doom Metal

Country: Latvia

Rating: 91/100
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