The RMR crew was a bit reticent to entertain the idea of yet another Doom Metal piece on RMR’s roster this year. After all, our daily lives seem to be inundated by bigly yet terrifying news and ominous warnings. All about the end(s) of the world in a variety of foreboding paintings and dark musings. And truly so, every disaster-loving fearmonger out there kinda describes a new one.
But what can we say? A new Marche Funèbre piece needs some serious attention. So, in we jump into this miasma of tears and wistful woe and get going. Signs of the times, right?
Where Einderlicht was all harsh delivery full of majestic strides down doom lane, After the Storm is a slightly different animal. A lot of the Peaceville Three influences went out the door and got replaced with some quiet melancholic fury. A varied avalanche of doom ‘n’ gloom that’s often more Insomnium than is good for it (Devoid of Empathy, for instance). Together with some Alcest-y / Gojira-esque vibes at times, if that makes any sense at all.
Twenty shades of vocals and decidedly meatier guitar work provide the two main pillars this record resides on. First, long-time member and guitarist Peter Egberghs left the band after recording and got a worthy replacement in one Fré De Schepper. And let me tell ya, the mélange of morose riffs, solemn solos, and tasty leads blew us away with their new-found meatiness and their powerful roar. And by the way, the guitars on After the Storm are still from Edberghs,1 whereas De Schepper ‘only’ provided the piano interludes.
And second, the vocals’ mighty thunder really got on our good side. This time, the Arne Vandenhoeck / Kurt Blommé tag team truly knocked it out of the park. You got these ferociously cathedral underground growls, snarls, and blackened rasps from Vandenhoeck. Precisely where they should be, by the way. On the flip side, Blommé throws in a riot of melancholic clears that are still as much My Dying Bride as they smoothly move into gothic territory. In fact, whenever he started up, these visions of gory vistas appeared in our minds, on a colorful tableau still dripping with red paint.
That said, After The Storm often appears noodly to a point. The length of the album is by no means excessive, but cutting some of the endless repeats would have taken away from that slightly mushy feeling. Or, again, the cheap come-ons on the title track might be good to make the live stage tremble some more. But it won’t add anything of true value to the disk itself. But those are minor quibbles in the wake of an otherwise pretty snazzy album.
In the end, After The Storm may very well turn into one of the more memorable doom pieces of 2024. The band went to great lengths to renovate and improve oomph and quality over Einderlicht. And they succeeded in spades. Not necessarily in better performance, mind you. But by choosing a slightly different path. One that combines unbridled power and a sometimes astonishing groove. And through all those remarkable changes, they stayed true to their credo, which is to provide a mighty rockslide of tearful woe and true sadboi material. This is a powerful record and you should give it your due attention. Oh, and before you hit play, After the Storm delivers best if consumed in one go. And if you can, grab a concert ticket, this stormy piece will sound stunning on stage.
Great Record.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Ardua Music | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 27 September 2024
- My evil twin calls this a smart move. The man will be sharing royalties with everyone else. The FNG? Not quite as much. -Ed.-↩