Apostate are one of the oldest doom metal bands to emerge
out of Ukraine, and they recently released their latest full-length offering –
Time of Terror. The band’s music can be described as classic death-doom metal, as
the band envelopes the listener into its realm of cosmic horror.
The music is mostly in the veins of My Dying Bride and early
Anathema, with the occasional Candlemass vibe seeping in. What works for the
band, is the slight mix of black metal brought into play at times, which adds
another dimension to the overall sound. The album consists of 5 tracks, with
each track clocking over 9 minutes, yet no two tracks sounding too similar.
“Pain Served Slow” stands out, with the track starting out
with a mesmerizing upbeat riff coupled with strong drum beats. This paves way
to an unexpected attack of ferocious black metal, before sucking out all hope
and ending with riffs reeking of death, desolation and despair. The final and
the longest track on the album “World Undying” clocks at over 13 minutes, yet
does not feel too stretched at any point. The track has a very bleak and dead
atmosphere running through it, yet having a much faster tempo as compared to
the remaining tracks.
The lyrics mainly deal with some form of cosmic hell. A
world with only death and despair, a world without any love, a world without
humanity, a world with no hope of existence. This is evident in lines like:
“The Black Hole Has Sucked in All Tragedy
The Radioactive Winds Have Blown Away All Serenity
Peace, Despair Collapsed into Emptiness
My Spirit is no Longer Sensible to Dark Matter’s Caress”
Although music is usually considered an outlet, a pathway
away from reality. The band brings in the reality of their lives into the
music. With the current socio-political condition in Ukraine, the album is
aptly titled “Time of Terror”, and the lyrics showcase how the world is
destroying itself, with the endless wars:
“This World is Rotten to the Core
This World Keeps Rotting Even Deeper Than Before
This World is Fallen and it Still Falls
But This World Keeps Rolling Despite it All”
There are several audio-clips from occult movies used throughout
in a great manner. These narration interludes add to the horror charm the album
sets out to accomplish.
Overall, Apostate have perfectly showcased their skills
in Time of Terror, as they engross you in a mournful doomed journey for over 50
minutes. The listener is immediately, taken back to the 90’s and the early
music of the Peaceville Three, mixed with Apostates's own dash of black metal.
