DESIRE „Locus Horrenaus – The Night Cries of a Sullen Soul”

I must say I quite enjoyed this album, even though I have not been aware of this band prior to my initial listen. Desire hail from Portugal and they have been around for 10 years now. When they started in 1992, they were known by their previous name Incarnated. In 1998, they opened up for Cradle of Filth, which is not a bad gig in my opinion. Not having heard any of their previous material, I can't really comment on how different this album is from their previous. For starters, Desire plays a slow and depressive doom metal with black/death vocals. There is a lot more synth work here than found on most doom releases but somehow it works well and doesn't take away from the listening experience. The album is very moody and atmospheric which is important when you're playing slow doom; you don't want to bore the listener to death. One thing which I noticed about a large number of doom releases is that the songs are way too long and they just drag on and on. Keeping your finger on the fast-forward button doesn't say anything good about a band. Desire, almost goes that root but since the songs are quite interesting, it keeps the listener tuned to the album without resorting to the dreaded fast-forward button.

Musically, Desire is very talented and creative. They have crafted unique and interesting compositions and the album, overall is a worthwhile listen. One complaint that I have are the vocals. At first they seem fine, but as the album carries on, they become very repetitive and boring. It's the same thing over and over. The prolonged screams of agony would be ok if they were inserted thoughtfully into the songs, but too much is too much. Other than that, it's a very good album, which I can't even think of whom to compare it to; which is a good think. Track nine is my favourite off this album, so if you're into the slow and depressive doom, defiantly check this band out.

note: 7 / 10