Band's List Doom Black Antropophobia (RUS) Scream in Emptiness

My interest in Russian black metal came about after listening to bands like Old Wainds, with the cold and bleak atmosphere that their music often invoke. What we have here then, is Russian atmospheric black/doom metal band Antropophobia's debut release, Scream in Emptiness, which features a sole member, Dmitry, behind the band.

As the album opens, the heavy, bassy and fuzzy guitar tone greets the listener, with a semi-aggressive track in the form of opening self-titled track. While most albums fail to attract the listener through the usage of weaker opening tracks that are either not fast or aggressive enough, Antropophobia presents a different issue. The aggressive track seemed slightly out of place, with the guitar tone that doesn't come across as biting enough, and the heavy atmosphere that reeks of depression, presenting a slight disjoint to the listener. However, as the first track end, and the next track, Lucifer's Scream begins, everything suddenly falls into place, as the band slows down to the more familiar doom pace, along with the sadness and desolation that reeks in the atmosphere and the listener is now brought on a truly melancholic, emotional journey.

Throughout the album, keyboards are heavily used to shroud the album in a thick veil of fog, wherein the band crafts their art. The lead guitars on the album also do not claim any of the limelight, at times even being obscured behind the rhythm guitars, such as on Suicide of Genius, yet when listened to carefully enough, these lead guitars often reek of sadness, and it almost feels like the listener is drowning in a pool of desperation that no one can pull him out of, and this is evident on tracks like title track, Scream in Emptiness. This is not to say that Dmitry lacks capabilities behind the guitar though, as can be seen on the small shred-fest on In the Night, dispelling any such impressions. Songs like When the Dark Angel Cried are heavily keyboard/piano-drive, and present a strange sense of calm to the listener as well, before slowly leading the listener on to the heavy Beauty of Chaos. The numerous instrumental tracks are excellent examples of how Dmitry allows for his instruments to drive the songs and express the emotions contained within them, without having to use a single word at all, though the gruff vocals and the spoken samples certainly help to enhance the experience.

Scream in Emptiness has certainly left an impression on me, with the focus on the emotions throughout the album, instead of the sterile, synthetic and unfeeling music that has been produced of late. If you like bands like Benighted in Sodom and the recent Vietnamese black metal band Giang (which has also taken the approach of focussing on instrumentals as well), this could be an album that would hook you instantaneously as well.