Time Signature The last place...

Genre: folk doom metal

While I think that their most recent release "Návaz" is pretty good, this album never really impressed me. I mean it is not a bad album, and the Slavic folk influences that make Silent Stream of Godless Elegy interesting are present here, too.

In addition to the Slavic influences, the band seems to have taken inspiration from early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, which is of course not a bad thing at all, and a lot of the riffage seems reminiscent of My Dying Bride's more melodic efforts.

The music itself is not bad - but not as good as on "Návaz", and one reason is of course that they are much more experienced musicians now in 2011 than they were back in 1998.

The main reason why I, while I like this album, is not the biggest fan of it is the vocals.

Back in the 1990s, death doom (doom metal with growled vocals) all the rage, and Silent Stream of Godless Elegy took the growled vocals from death doom and applied them to their own brand of melodic folk doom metal... and that just does not work, I think. I have always found it problematic with growled vocals and doom metal, because I never really thought that such a brutal singing style suited the melancholic style that i doom metal - especially not doom metal that emphasizes melody to the extent that Silent Stream of Godless Elegy do. To be honest, I think that the growled and harsh vocals on this album sound out of place and outright stupid.

This would have been much better as an instrumental release (the music itself is multifaceted enough for this to be possible), but that is water under the bridge now, because, as we know, they ended up hiring a female vocalist.

Time Signature Thinking spring...

Genre: Czech folk gothic doom metal (or something like that)

"Návaz" is in many ways an interesting album. First off, the base style is the more doomy kind of gothic metal (derived from the works of My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost), and I tend to prefer that to the more poppy type of gothic metal that is associated with a lot of Finnish acts. Secondly, it has folk elements; now, folk elements are perhaps nothing new, given that folk metal has become pretty much an established genre, but most folk metal seems to draw on either Celtic or Nordic folk music. Therefore, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy's "Návaz" with its Slavic influences is a fresh, yet melancholic, breath of air. Thirdly, the lyrics are sung in the band's native language rather than in English, and, I must say, Czech is a very soft and pleasant language to listen to when sung.

While there are a lot of such interesting elements that certainly make "Návaz" more than worthwhile, the album has yet to captivate me. As it is now, I think that the music certainly is quality music, but I think I need to give it a lot more spins for it to really be able to give it the appreciation it deserves.

Recommended to fans of doom metal and gothic metal. If you like you violin-ladden doom metal, you are bound to like "Návaz".

J-Man I Have Two Shadows!

Despite a history that dates back to 1995, Návaz was my introduction into the wonderful music of Silent Stream of Godless Elegy. They've had a dedicated underground following for quite some time, and with a recent signing onto a prestigious metal label (Season of Mist), it's natural for one to predict that Návaz will increase the band's fanbase even more. Although Silent Stream of Godless Elegy's style of music isn't something I typically enjoy very much, denying quality like this would be insane. This is a unique and beautiful work of art that fans of doom metal with gothic, classical, and folk influences will definitely want to track down. Although Návaz has its flaws, one can only hope that it will give Silent Stream of Godless Elegy the recognition that they undoubtedly deserve. People who have been following this Czech-based band will want to put this high on their purchase list, but I also have a feeling that this should reach out to other open-minded metalheads. This isn't a perfect album, but it's a unique and challenging effort that was certainly worth experiencing.

The music here is a mix of doom/death, classical music, folk, and female-fronted gothic metal. I'm frequently reminded of My Dying Bride by their mix of doom/death and classical music, but those Slavonic folk tendencies and gothic metal influences give Silent Stream of Godless Elegy their own identifiable sound. There is a fairly prominent string section on Návaz, consisting of a violinist and cellist which are present on nearly every moment of the album. The vocals are male growls and clean female singing. It gives SSOGE a "beauty and the beast"-like atmosphere, while never sounding like the countless power metal bands who attempt to capitalize on the sound. The music is fairly soft for an album that more or less belongs to the doom/death genre, though there is plenty of distortion in the guitar sounds. The lyrics are in the band's native language, so I must confess knowing nothing about the concepts behind the songs. While the entire album is of high-quality, I hesitate in calling the final product "excellent". While a few songs like the opening number, "Mokoš" or "Skryj Hlavu Do Dlaní" are terrific all the way through, not every song reeks of excellence as the aforementioned tracks do. This may be partially due to the fact that all of the songs have eerily similar arrangements, with very little variation in terms of instrumentation. The compositions themselves are almost all excellent, but it seems as though a "samey" feeling is a byproduct of the lack of instrumental variation. "Slava" is the only skip-worthy song here - the rest of the album is worth hearing for sure.

The production is excellent and a highlight aspect of the album. The sound of the piano and string section is spot-on throughout all of Návaz. Kudos to Roland Grapow for the stellar mix!

Conclusion:

Návaz is a unique and highly-enjoyable doom/folk metal album that fans of the genre should take a look into. I can't say I was completely blown away by Návaz, but its adventurous and innovative attitude is truly admirable. Silent Stream of Godless Elegy are a talented group of musicians who are fully capable of creating excellent music, and they've proven that with Návaz. A 3.5 star rating is well-earned here. Dedicated fans of SSOGE and newbies alike should give this a shot.