Profetus

Hailing from Tampere, Finland, funereal doom metal band Profetus deliver a crushing blow with their second full-length release, ...To Open the Passages in Dusk. The four songs on this record add up to nearly an hour of haunting, viscerally grim music that plays out precisely like a pagan requiem mass. The swelling, ominous chords from an organ produce a solemn, ritual-like mood that casts a pall over the entire record. Profoundly down tempo, time telescopes in on itself when listening to this album, making the long tracks seemingly stretch out forever, exactly like how a few hours can be an eternity for a bereaved mourner. The riffs crawl forward, as though dragging themselves along painfully, and each crashing cymbal and dramatic thump of the drums evokes the thrashing of a body in agony. "Burn, Lanterns on the Eve" is the most powerful offering and is also the track that features the most compelling performance by vocalist Anssi Mäkinen, who heaves and wails his way through the song with sorrow. ...To Open the Passages in Dusk is a fine soundtrack to any day that feels like your personal apocalypse.