Step Into the Gloom

Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony

Clearly, the world rotates more slowly for these doomsters. It is also a much crueller one for them as we have learnt. Four grievers in France get together, and under the name of Ataraxie create doom music that will induce a plethora of dramatic emotions from the most stoical of people, to be projected with undiminished intensity even on the most seasoned poker faces around. Slow Transcending Agony is their suggestively titled debut, a blatant warning to their more empathetic and susceptible listeners.

The album begins with “Step Into The Gloom” and you do just that, stumbling however farther into it to prove your dedication as a listener. It serves as a somewhat longish interlude, languorously creating the build-up for the next song which at once erupts with a deep growl signifying the actual start of nearly an hour of emotional torture. “Funeral Hymn”, despite being the crucial opening song, owes a bit too much to early My Dying Bride to grab you by your shoulders and shake up tears out of you. But around the seven min mark in the same song, the Shape of Despair throws its pall of funereal gloom on you, choking you with emotions and making your heart palpitate wretchedly. Then you see Ataraxie breaking off into an angry run, as though unable to come to terms with its grief.

“L'Ataraxie” is where the band comes into its dolorous self and remains that way till the end of the album. Thick tear-sodden riffs plod along in the style of Shape of Despair where they meet Turn Loose The Swans era My Dying Bride with occasional heavy reinforcements in the form of Dusk (US). Halfway into the song, you are painfully reminded of Bethlehem's S.U.I.Z.I.D thanks to the plaintive solo played amidst a mournful segment so strong in its emotion, that you can't help but scream out in despair and agony like the vocalist. Ataraxie then make a miraculous recovery to play wistfully romantic tunes that are reminiscent of Morgion till the song withers away. The title track is the most captivating of all, a microcosm or should I say macrocosm of the band's sound, beginning in an oppressive, emotion-draining Shape of Despair manner and then leading into dream-like sequences of Evoken where you get hopelessly lost and lose your grip on reality. Heavy plodding is an inextricable feature of this band, making its obtrusive presence felt every once a while and preventing things from getting too sentimental. The growled vocals are excellent all through, unremitting in their duty to make you feel utterly miserable and worthless. “Another Day of Despondency” blasts off, that's right, almost in a death metal style, immediately driving Disembowelment like a hammered stake through your mind. After the brief tumultuous outburst, it settles down to play bleak tunes mostly bearing the heaviness of My Dying Bride one experienced on their Trinity EPs, which are laced with the romanticism of Morgion.

Ataraxie, though inconsistent, do well to eschew the protracted and lugubrious trappings of funeral doom and in place infuse the heavier death/doom elements to give their doom a well-rounded sound that is still very much evocative. For their impending follow-up album, I would like to hear them play music that sounds less inspired by My Dying Bride, as it is a band that we have all weaned on, and excessive reminders of which might not be very appealing. Overall, Slow Transcending Agony is a superb debut by a promising doom band.