A TIME TO MOURN reviews
Some bands are highly
underrated for sure. Take Australia's Paramaecium for example, a band that
has released two giant doom-epics in the past ("Exhumed Of The Earth" and
"Within The Ancient Forest") and which many insiders, including myself,
consider among the greatest forerunners of the depressive doom style. How
revolting that such a great band is obliged to release a self-financed third
album without worldwide distribution! But luckily Paramaecium's music stands
out once again. After a melancholic intro, singer/bassist Andrew Tompkins
screams all frustration off his chest in the monstruous "I'm Not To Blame",
followed by more introvert tracks like "Betrayed Again" (my fave) or "Enter
In Time": slow, pounding, depressive as shit and yet delightfully heavy,
laden with nice violins among the crushing guitars. Paramaecium is a threesome,
aided by three more girls on violin, flute and vocals (only sparse parts
though) that without a doubt matches the splendour and the massive sound
of early My Dying Bride.
7/7
Kurt Demeulemeester - Mindview (Belgium) 1999
Paramaecium are back where they started with this
album after the somewhat groping walk through the "...ancient forest":
The guitar riffs are better and more upfront and the pace have been slowed
down to get the right doom feel back on track. And the violin and the
flute and beautiful soprano are still present. This is a very atmospheric
album with an intro and outro that is just fantastic!
5/6
Anders Blisten - Scream (Norway) 1999
This eight song album is just another example of
the never ending creative mind of Andrew Tompkins. He pulled off the greatest
move in the history of Christian metal, by teaming up with the other most
brilliant mind in Christian metal, Seventh Angel/Ashen Mortality front
man Ian Arkley. The result is one of the better albums to date. Most of
the vocal tracks are very doomy, a mix of flute and violin which gives
the album a sort of opera meets doom metal type sound. There are two instrumentals
that open and close the album, that play like the second instrumental
is part two of the first one. The biggest surprise is hearing Andrew singing
in the true sense, and he does it very well. You get to hear beautiful
operatic female vocals by Tracy Bourne. Ian's guitar playing is excellent
as always. On track two, (my favorite on the cd) Ian plays a fast and
heavy pace that offsets the albums mostly doomy sound. The best song on
this album is track six titled "Live For the Day", which is the longest
song on the cd (I love long songs). It is a blend of all the individual
songs wrapped up into one. You get to hear more of Tracy's vocals, and
a good mix of Andrew's death and true singing. It is doomy while also
played fast. You can tell Andrew is the brains behind the project, but
you can also hear Ian's influence, which only makes the album that much
more enjoyable.
Abdiel - Empyrean Reign (USA) 1999
11/12 points in Heavy oder Was (Germany)
8/10 points in Metal Heart (Germany)
You'd think an unsigned band that loses all but
one of it's members would just throw up it's hands in frustration and
go do something more lucrative. But no, no, no ... Paramaecium, essentially
Andrew Tompkins, lives on. And this time he's back with none other than
my guitar hero of Seventh Angel fame (you can't really call it fame but
what else am I gonna write?), and here is their new album. So how does
this measure up to the past efforts of these two experienced musicians?
Well I guess that depends on what you're hoping for, because the doomy
death metal on "A Time to Mourn" is simply different.
The opener "A Moment" does more than just open,
it takes off and it soars; it falls for a few seconds then just flies
away taking you right along with it. It's just a simple guitar melody
played again and again but the pounding drums and the breathtaking female
vocals, together with a quiet segment with a clean guitar on it's own
before the whole thing really lets lose, make this song that Ian wrote
a real masterpiece. I can't get enough of it. It's so pretty that it leaves
you ill prepared for the overwhelming rumble of "I'm not to Blame", which
at the same time is probably Paramaecium's most conventional song. It
sounds much more like a regular old heavy metal song, which is unusual
for this band, who like to tinker with complex arrangements that seem
to go on forever. That short female vocal part in the chorus is really
cool, it adds a real touch of brilliance to an already slammin' song.
Andrew's vocals are so incredibly freaky. People
generally make fun of death metal vocals and brush it off as a complete
lack of vocal talent. I think Andrew proves them wrong; go ahead, you
try it! His deep growl has gotten even more intense; and I don't have
any trouble understanding him, which is a real exception for this style
of music.
Paramaecium again employs violins and flutes in
"A Time to Mourn" and they really add a sad but exquisite sound to these
songs, especially in "Enter in Time" which has a really nice flute solo;
and the deeply sorrowful "Betrayed Again", which uses violins to embellish
the melody. Ian's guitar work is outstanding, but a lot more subtle than
his mind blowing soloing with Seventh Angel. But it's just as well, even
if it might be a little disappointing to his older fans, because his newer
style matches Paramaecium's sound like a glove.
The only shortcomings here are the last two tracks.
"Even the Walls" has excellent lyrics but the music is even slower than
the rest of the album and it doesn't have a memorable melody to it either.
It's not bad, just sort of boring. The ending track "unceasing" is a disappointment
simply because it sounds too much like the first. It's basically the same
song as "A Moment", just not as good. An acoustic version of the song
would have been much better I think. This album just seems too short to
have a reprise at the end.
All in all though, this is a very, very good album
and it really grows on you. It doesn't have much thrash or over the top
guitar noodling but the songs have an almost haunting quality, and the
melodies are really quite something. I would say this album is worth buying
just for "A Moment", "I'm not to Blame", and "Live for the Day"; this
is really outstanding stuff.
Bjorn Bauer - Christian Metal Resource Website
(USA) 1999
Nowadays it's hard to tell, if a band is really
honest, if they really play from their hearts. But in the case of Paramaecium
it's quite easy: an Aussie band will never play gothic death/doom metal
just for the sake of popularity. Especially not in such a dark, slow,
non-commercial way. Ok, the Australian culture doesn't have that kind
of atmosphere, that Northern Europe, England, or even our country have,
but one can feel mourning, sorrow and pain on that part of the world,
too - and these guys express it in an "English way". I mean, the main
influences seem to be early Anathema and My Dying Bride, but some riffs
reach back even to Sabbath. Listening to it again and again you can always
find some further values and interesting features, which were hidden at
first. All in all, it's not a basic album, but it contains some very fine
material.
10/10
Metal Hammer (Hungary) 1999
The Doomdeath-Genre became forgotten in recent
times. It is a pity, because the combination of mega-heavy, mega-slow
metal and deep Growls propagates an unforgettable flair of emotion and
rottenness and so it is the ideal soundtrack, to bathe in depression.
But don´t despair! For Paramaecium are here, to finish that shortness
with their third album "a time to mourn". In contrast to their previous
album "Within the ancient forest" the australians have heightened the
doom factor boldly; one song "live for the day" is a bit in the gothic-sounds
direction with the inclusion of clean vocals and sometimes female angel-sung
vocals, which is a really good match in the new compositions. The use
of Violin and flute does the rest, to ecstasize every fan of the first
my dying bride album or the here unfortunately bad known november´s
doom debut "amid ist hallowed mirth". Well, mournfulness can be Wonderful.
8/10
Rock Hard (Germany) 1999
After the debut, here is a hauling album with the
name "a time to mourn". And beware - it is a good album! Whoever likes
old My Dying Bride and a medley of Doom and death metal should buy this
cd. The simple melodies and the harmony vocals are easy on the ear and
show at the latest (5th) listening the true character and the love for
detail. Female Vocals and violins, the art of that music, are included
into the matured arrangement. I personally think that the band has taken
a lot of time to record a good and personal album. Also, with the album
"a time to mourn", perhaps the band doesn´t reach the top of the
genre, but the door is opened very wide. Buy now and tell everyone later
that you were with the band at the beginning! That is the right message
for everyone, who wants to give a chance for these newcomers! There's
more to come!
EMP (Germany) 1999
A TIME TO MOURN comments
I've had the new album for a few months now, and it just keeps getting better
the more i listen to it. I must be totally honest though...the first time
I wasn't very impressed, but the more I've listened to it, the more I gain
a true appreciation for it. I guess I wasn't expecting anything that different
from within...so when I heard it at first, it wasn't at all what I expected.
But, like I said, now it has become one of my favs (as with all the other
discs). "I'm not to blame" is an absolutely killer track! Nothing like I
would've expected from Paramaecium, but it's still awesome. I also want
to say that the explanation of the lyrics on the website is great. I kinda
got the idea of most of the tracks, but your comments really clarified things
and were just very encouraging...so, thanks a lot for that. And the vocals
are even better than any before...the parts you sing on are excellent. overall,
it's just another great album!
- Jason Dingeldein - USA
I heard the sound sample of a song from the new album on your homepage,
and I have to tell you, that it's simply AMAZING! The song itself, and
the sound quality as well are the best I've heard from You by far, although
I enjoyed the previous albums very much, too. Congratulations!!!
- Kovacs Gergely - HUNGARY
I got my order Saturday. I'm extremely pleased on how fast they shipped.
I really enjoy your new album _A Time To Mourn_. It is EXCELLENT! :) It's
already on my top 10 for 1999, and I'm sure it'll stay on it. The new
album shows a lot of progession, maturity, and variety. I will tell many
people about your new album! Everything about the album stuns me! The
production is great. The artwork for the album is just as great as the
music, it complements it nicely. Keep up the great work!
- Ryan Hair - USA
Thanks for sending the CD. Great music ! You're back where I want you:
dark, low-paced and very melodic doom metal.
- Anders Blisten - NORWAY
Got your new CD last Friday, oh man. Words cannot describe what I think
of this CD. Easily the best christian metal album since i'd say Living
Sacrifice's "Nonexistent". This was a bit different than I imagined it
as it had more death vocals than i pictured but it is still a killer album.
The violin, flute, in the songs like "Live for the Day" and that female
vocals in "I'm not to Blame" are sheer magical. You have surely outdone
yourself on this album. Ian's influence is very obvious, especially with
"LFTD" as it begins just like an S.A. song would. But that's cool, I've
always like SA as well as Paramaecium.
The package freaked me out, it is so cool, just the picture of the woman
on front with text. plain, simple but inventive.One thing I thought was
cool was having the song titles on the back with a highlighted letter
in each title spell out "mourning", that was cool.
A lot of the album reminded me of early My Dying Bride, in that vein/style
of something they would do and even moreso the French-band Misanthrope
(they are more progessive-metal orientated) but some of your rhythms/arrangements
would fit well onto one of their albums.
This new CD of yours is landmarking material in the Christian scene,
it is by far your best work and lyrically it is awesome also. I like the
style your songs are written, you have a real and true talent for that.
All I been listening to for the past weekend has been this lp, it is
so awesome. When I first played it, my jaw hit the ground. It was breathtaking.
- Jeff Dereszynski - USA
Loved your death style voice and the new guitar sound. As I mentioned
before, different from your other releases but great none the less.
- Andrew Lloyd - AUSTRALIA
OK, just now put on the disc, listening to first song. Wow...first thought,
drums sound huge. Good sound. Production clean. Female vocals nice touch.
Second song now. Wow. Cool guitar tone. Oh yeah! Andrew's vocals kick
in! Now the female...excellent! This is great Andrew! What a big groove.
Paramaecium for the new millennium! I love this man. This is a little
bit groovier than past efforts...so far anyway.
Well, Andrew, so far this is great! I am sure the rest of the disc is
going to be worthy of the quality and depth that we all have come to expect
from Paramaecium.
- John Deffes - USA
I can't wait for your new album. Is it going to
be mixed the same as ATTM? I think ATTM had the best production/mixing
of any metal album i've ever heard. It was fantastic.
- Lee Rydberg - USA
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