Inborn Suffering
Wordless Hope
7.4
It seems that when the French get a hold of a metal genre, after a while they seem to excel at it; having already now dominated the psychotic black metal scene (Blut Aus Nord, Deathspell Omega), the post-rock scene (Overmars, The Year of No Light), folk metal (Aes Dana, Belenos) and death/black metal (Antaeus, Hypokras, Kronos), here is Inborn Suffering to have a go at depressive funeral doom.
With a familiar sorrowful, layered thick sound full of rending melodies, woeful roars and sad piano injections, Inborn Suffering should appeal to fans of early My Dying Bride and Anathema, Draconian, Funeral, Pantheist and the Finnish bands like Shape of Despair, My Shameful, Ablaze In Hatred et all, though they need to tighten up, notably in the percussion department, to be considered in the same breath.
Seven lengthy, despondent tracks plus one album closing instrumental make for an hour of damn solid, morose yet melodic doom metal that will have you wilting at the knees and ‘getting something out of your eye’ in no time, for sure by the time the impressive “Inborn Suffering” lopes into view. Delicate acoustics start “Monolith”, one of the album’s other better tracks, but drummer Thomas Rugolino (also of black/doom act Mourning Dawn) comes awfully close to ruining the track's amazing riff and mood-he’s just ‘off’ a little too much, and considering the pace of the music, it stands out that much more.
The overall quality of the songs, though, is pretty high, with “The Agony Within” and “Thorn of Deceit” being particularly well done in their delivery of somber, yet hefty sadness, and it's all backed with a thick, heavy guitar tone. I will be on the look out for future releases, especially if they polish up a bit, as should you other funeral doom fans.
