Swedish band FAITH was formed back in 1984, but apart from a few demos and a single they didn’t make much of an impact back then, at least not as a commercial entity. In 2003 they made their debut as recording artists with “Salvation Lies Within”, and since then they’ve been more or less steadily producing new material. “Decades of Despair” is their fourth full length album, and the second they have released through Swedish label Transubstans Records.
And it is a rather diverse album Faith have come up with this time around, at least for a band that easily merits a description as a doom metal unit. This type of music doesn’t normally come with too much diversity at hand apart from subtle details, but in this case diversity is present also in more substantial aspects of the music provided. Not always successful, but it’s always nice to encounter a band that ventures just a bit outside of the territories one would expect.
The arguably least successful effort at hand in this case is final track What a Wonderful World. A pleasant enough listen it is, but Satchmo did this one way better back in the day and as far as cover versions go I’ve heard them better. Still, it’s nice to hear this band taking on a classic piece of music like this, and in the original style too. Another song that didn’t make that music of an impression was Marion Crane. A piece that will find favor amongst those who truly enjoy classic doom metal I guess, but apart from some guitar motifs given an extra round or two of distortion this one didn’t offer any surprises or tantalizing details as such. A pleasant slice of fairly traditional doom metal.
But apart from these two creations there’s plenty to enjoy on this CD. We’re treated to two instances of Scandinavian folk music sporting accordion and violin (I think?) in the driving seat, given an initial run as purebred folk music then subsequently supplemented by bass, drums and slow, dark toned guitar riffs doom metal style. Songs that combine the subtly melancholic yet joyful summer evening mood with the gloomier doom metal style in a nice and effective contrasting blend. There’s one ballad in here too. Hollow is it’s name, and while the light toned nasal vocals in the gentler parts of this compositions is a tad bothersome, the supplementing acoustic guitar pattern and frail piano motif works very well, as does the massive, dark toned riffs for the purebred and intense doom metal interludes into this otherwise gentle escapade. Traditional doom metal toned down and with smooth keyboards as an additional details is the name of the game for Ashes to Ashes (1, 23, 45), also a blend that works fairly well. We’re even treated to a singalong chorus on this one, not a common feature among doom metal bands to my knowledge.
The most impressive part of this band’s repertoire is when they blend in more or less subtle folk music inspirations into their slow, massive doom metal forays however. Opening trio Decades of Despair, Iscariot and Hwila all do this in subtly different and fairly impressive manners, with opening and title track Decades of Despair arguably the most impressive of them. Still, with this opening selection we’re treated to 25 minutes of high quality doom metal sporting additional details that does elevate the overall listener experience quite nicely.
At last we have Codex Dei. Second to last track, and clocking in at 15 minutes. Bookended by acoustic guitars and recitals from the Book of Genesis, the final conclusion of this composition indicating that this isn’t a piece to be sorted under religious music at all. In between these recitals Faith explore a majestic and fairly traditional variety of doom metal, and in a very fine manner too I might add, but also with room for both a gentle insert referencing back to previously mentioned ballad Hollow as well as this band’s particular take on folk music and doom metal combined.
A strong album overall, and a production well recommended to those who enjoy old school doom metal of the kind bands like Candlemass are one of the most well known exponents of, and if you fancy the idea of combining this type of music with Scandinavian folk music this is a production that should find it’s way to your ears at some point.
My rating: 82/100
