Doom is an interesting genre. It can be completely captivated by genre tropes, meaning that bands new and old often sound very much the same. It can also contain some of the most interesting music to release each year. Livgone could be considered part of the doom genre, yet they subvert it constantly. Their new album Almost There released on March 22nd through Svart Records.
Livgone comes to us from France. They are a trio of musicians, namely Elise Aranguren, Emil Svensson, and Michal Kielbasa. The last two have black metal experience, and I think that plays into the band’s overall sound considerably.
What exactly is this music? It’s doomy, yes, so the riffs are often drawn out expertly for emotional impact. But the band also offers driving portions, and even ambient ones. There are hovering, poetic atmospheres, but also brash and raw segments. There are songs that revel in texture and in mood, and others that rock hard with brawny touch.
Whatever the band plays, they have a firm leash on melody. Elise has a great voice that offers a haunting and more melodic side to doom, and you’ll hear plenty of keyboard melodies up against terrific drumming and darkened riffs. I’ve heard them compared to a combination of Messa and Godspeed You Black Emperor, and that’s not a bad description. They have all the vitality and colorful power of the former and the mystery and texture of the latter.
I really like the way the album is structured over seven tracks, though I’ll admit that my favorites are in the middle, tracks 3-5. The album begins with an intro called “Walk to Derealization”, which is suitably eerie, and “Silverstone” greets us with strong vocals, a great hook, and shoegazing guitar work. It does remind me of Messa somewhat, which is a good thing.
The next three tracks step out into the flow, so to speak. “Hypoesthesia” is a ten-minute piece with plenty of doom in its melancholy metal sound; however, it slowly softens, and Elise’s voice leads us into a second half of pure, unadulterated ambient music. It flickers subtly and peacefully and almost in psychedelic fashion. It was this track that first grabbed me. “Watching Them Feel” comes next and is the single, and I love it. There is something so alien about the track as it transitions between muscular riffs to chaotic black metal tempos to novel and purposeful notes and auras. It is so good. “Dance So I Can” comes next and feels expansive and spacious; I love how it almost feels forlorn in a Middle Eastern sort of way, like dancing in the desert of your soul. Its hovering melody is beautiful.
The last two songs leave an impression, too. “J’y suis Presque” is essentially the title track, meaning “I’m Almost There”, and it is supremely dark and pretty heavy. It’s mostly instrumental until Elise’s haunting vocals appear near the end, but its heaviness feels extremely precise and calculated, and it leaves a mark on your mind. “There” is the closer, and it is another ambient track, this one being full of shadow and unknown flecks of sound and light. It is quite the statement to end a doom album on such a two-song punch of textural abstraction and roaring darkness. It really works for me.
I really like this Livgone release. They have taken a genre that has its fair share of clones and have made something fresh and arresting. For listeners who are sensitive to soundscape and audible spaces of the mind, this is an album that might leave you stunned and contemplative.
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