Clouds - Despărțire (2021)

Consistently pushing the boundaries of creating misery-inducing music, Clouds is one of those bands that with each release only keeps getting better and more refined. With “Despărțire” the band sets a new bar for Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal releases with nearly 60 minutes of emotive music that will rip your heart out of its cavity in minutes. Featuring some excellent guest appearances and some additional elements to the band’s already all-encompassing sound, this release is as brilliant as any of the band’s previous efforts.

Opening with the imposing “Deepen This Wound”, we get a very solemn vibe thanks to weeping violins and piercing riffs, perfectly paired with Daneil’s rumbling growls. The use of clean vocals provides a nice contrast and allows the music to flow into more emotional dimensions. In the piercing “This Heart, A Coffin”, the band enlisted none other than Mick Moss to provide additional vocals in this total banger of a song. We particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of the violins, tempo, and clean vocals in this very dynamic piece.

After the old-school vibes of “Your Name in My Flesh”, which remind us of a mixture of Thorns of the Carrion and Morgion, the album’s best song comes under the name of “In Both Our Worlds The Pain Is Rea”. This track besides its very dramatic and hypnotic pace thanks to the use of wind instruments, it also features Aaron Stainthorpe, laying down some killer vocal sections. While the band’s sound has been consistent over the years, this release features tracks with more dynamic elements alongside the usual antics to deliver raw emotions from start to finish, as we hear in both “The Door We Never Opened” and “A Place for all Your Tears”.

Closing with the bleakness of “See the Sky with Blind Eyes”, Clouds has managed to build up on their previous success and further refined their music in “Despărțire”. New faces have brought new dimensions to the band’s sound, making this release unique and different from their earlier work. However, fear not as the crushing and gargantuan Doom riffs and growls are never in short supply in this release as well. If you are a fan of the band and the genre, it will not get any better than this in 2021.

Label: Self-Released

Release: October 14th, 2021

Genre: Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal

Country: International