OPHIS — Immersed (review)

OPHIS — Immersed album cover Split · 2012 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
Mirthless memories...

Genre: death doom

Immersed is a split featuring two of Europe's leading doom metal bands – namely, the Dutch act Officium Triste and the German act Ophis, each contributing with two fine tracks. The Dutchmen are responsible for the first two tracks while the Germans deliver he two last ones.

Both bands operate within the subgenre of death doom metal, which means that there are similarities in their music, which creates a sense of cohesion throughout the entire release, but they sound different enough that you can hear that they are two different bands with their own takes on the death doom genre, and there is the variation that there should be on a split release. I quite like this unified yet varied character of Immersed which makes it a very interesting listen.

Ophis' two contributions, 'Storm of Shards' and 'The Mirthless', come across as being slightly heavier than Officium Triste's compositions, as Ophis rely more on heavy riffs than on slow melodic guitar harmonies. There are some sections with harmonic guitars in Ophis' tracks, but not to the same extent of lushness as with Officium Triste, and Ophis do not make use of keyboards. But their riffs and the heavy and powerful drumbeats work perfectly in creating a compellingly emotional sense of darkness and bleakness. Vocals-wise, Ophis rely mainly on guttural growls, which are slightly more in the brutal department, combined with desperate screams.

Both Ophis and Officium Triste really deliver the goods on this split, and both bands, while using slightly different aesthetics, succeed in expressing the same sense of melancholy and doom-laden desperation. Fans of death doom should definitely see if they can get a hold on this fine split release.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

… And the Universe Keeps Silent Death Metal
MAERE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Le bannissement Atmospheric Black Metal
CANTIQUE LÉPREUX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tarantula Heart Sludge Metal
MELVINS
Buy this album from MMA partners
God Damned You To Hell Traditional Doom Metal
FRIENDS OF HELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Absence Melodic Death Metal
THE ABSENCE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Fallen Ashes - Wage War (Official Lyric Video)
FALLEN ASHES
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Unreality (Single) 2024
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Cold Hands
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
IRON MONKEY - Misanthropizer (Official Music Video)
IRON MONKEY
Bosh66· 11 days ago
??? (Losing ART) - "????" (Official Music Video) [HD]
漂浮者樂團
Bosh66· 11 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed