Bleak Picture, The
Meaningless
Bleak and desolate, without forgetting beautiful melodies, THE BLEAK PICTURE dives deep into murky waters that can also be called melodic death doom metal. The band's doomy riffage borders on death metal heaviness, but the music manages to escape from the shallows of repetitiveness continuing in the atmospheric groove traced by the band's acclaimed first EP, with greater emphasis on dark melodies that wrap the songs in a cosmic shroud of stars. The vocal lines frequently alternate registers, offering haunted wailing cleans, catchier verses and dread-filled death calls. The sound is instantly familiar with nods to the '90s, but never sounds retro or like mere homage. For fans of old Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Dolorian, Swallow the Sun, Counting Hours or Killing Joke