Earlier this year, I was doing my thing, listening to a Heike Langhans playlist on Spotify. I knew most of the songs, but had not heard of Lord of Shadows and her collaboration with them. Listening to the available tracks, I was instantly hooked and also happy to see that a full album was set to debut this year! The album is called Echoes of Yore and it releases on September 1st. It is definitely right up my alley at the moment.
Lord of Shadows is a curious project. Its mastermind is one Shadows Valentine, lyricist and conceptual head. He is not a musician, however. He has brought with him doom metal royalty, though, in the form of Heike Langhans (ex-Draconian, ex-ISON, Remina, Light Field Reverie, Lor3l3i) and Aaron Stainthrope (My Dying Bride). How did he do this? I have no idea. Furthermore, Heike and Aaron are simply the vocalists; the music was written and performed mostly by Mike Lamb (Sojourner, Remina, Light Field Reverie). Guest vocalist Emilio Crespo of Sojourner also appears on one track, and the drums were handled by Jakob Olsen. Most of you know how much I like Heike and Mike’s collaborations, and this one is fantastic, too.
Lord of Shadows plays an exquisite and deeply Romantic form of Gothic doom metal. I’m not going to pretend that it isn’t as classic as this genre comes, but it certainly is a gorgeous and illustrious form of it. Heike and Aaron’s vocals play off of one another so well, and you’ll hear a spellbinding siren contrasted against excellent harsh vox and quivering cleans. This album feels extremely nostalgic, dramatic, poetic, and haunting, and I love that so much.
I need to emphasize that point. Echoes of Yore, even from the title alone, is a celebration of Gothic Doom. While celebration might be too bright of a word to communicate what I mean, the album revels in all the classic staples of the genre, and it delivers them like a perfectly aged wine. And in this observance, this commemoration, of what has gone before, we are entreated to relish, to glory, to wax emotional along with it.
I love all seven tracks here. One thing I should mention is the spoken word that appears on a few tracks; I’m not sure if that’s Shadows speaking, or maybe Aaron, but it is well-delivered and it pulses with sorrow and life. I like, too, how sometimes the spoken word is woven into the music and vocals, almost mirroring each other into a dark delight. An example of this is my favorite track on the album, “Faith of My Beloved”, a doom song that truly has groove and catchiness to it, but there is a moment where the spoken word is delivered seconds before the vocalists repeat the same line, and, my god, it is such a spinetingling little touch that elevates everything.
The album is full of such flourish. The opener, “Her Lips were Poetry and Doom”, leans into the spoken word at first until a grand transition in the music leads us into the dark fray. Next comes the aforementioned “Faith of My Beloved”, a song I cannot stop singing. Then arrives “At the End of Our Eclipse”, a song with a spacious, shadowy quality; Heike is essentially the lead on this one, and it is a beautiful track.
The last four songs continue the excellence. “She Was But An Echo of Yore” is extremely Romantic in tone with heavy drama and emotion, and I love how it begins and ends with a downpour of rain. “Through Memories, I Gave Her Life” is another good one with perhaps a faster tempo than the rest of the record, and I like that change of pace and also the piano on it. “If the Tears Are Forgotten” follows, and is one of my favorites; it is a slow burning piece, poetic and ambient and spectral to the core. I love the exquisite vocals from Heike and the hovering, sorrowful tone of the song. The album closes with “Your Blood Weighs Heavy”, an ambient piece that feels like a hallway of shadows. Spoken word filters in near the end, and transforms the track into the perfect, nostalgic, and storied ending for this album.
Lord of Shadows will quickly become a favorite doom project of mine, I am sure. With grieving shoulders, heartfelt sorrow, flickers of hope, and graceful lore, this album is a work of profound majesty. It communicates beauty in all the ways I personally understand best, and its artistry is deeply reflective and of the highest quality. I love this album, and I think fans of the doom genre in general will, too.
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Find Lord of Shadows online:
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The PROG Mind 