Little Dead Bertha
Way Of Blind
6
Synopsis:
Competent but 8 year old sounding gothic black metal from Russia...
Review:
Though I was loathed to touch this after the Light? debacle also on Stygian Crypt, after some internet research that showed this Russian band to be a moderately regarded goth/doom outfit, I dove into Way Of Blind and found the research was correct, except the doom element has been dropped for a more black metal take on gothic dramatics.
If you enjoyed Dismal Euphony (circa All Little Devils), or the likes of Agathodaimon, early Theatre of Tragedy and Moonspell, Thalarion and other gothic based, synth heavy, mid to late 90s European theatrical black metal acts, Little Dead Bertha will keep you entertained despite the rather archaic sound. All the usual trappings are here; long songs with lots of synths, female vocals interplaying with blackened rasps, heavily accented vampiric clean whispers, epic blast beats, delicate, depressive segues and ivory tinkling. It’s all so 1998, but not too shabby for what it is with slightly above average songwriting and delivery.
Opener “Without Hope” pretty much sets the tone for the whole album and is followed by the slightly more urgent and sweeping opening of “Raven”, which quickly reverts to the typical blast, tinkle, whisper, choir, scream structure, but does has some likeable moments. “I Don’t Believe” starts out even more fervently but soon turns into a pretty dreary mid paced goth rock track with a couple of blasting spurts. From there the album stays pretty true to course with the inclusion of the doomy ballad “Last Way to Nowhere”, the lengthy epic “Force and Brave”, and closes with a track that has more of a doomy lumber “Requiem” more akin to their earlier discography complete with solemn growls.
The production is decent, but not great and the overall package is acceptable, but there’s a reason (other than plying a bear dead genre) the band has mired on Eastern European labels for the better part of a decade, they just don’t have ‘it’; the dynamics and songwriting to make Way Of Blind anything more than average.
