### Evoken: Antithesis of light

#### 23/02/11 || Daemonomania

For everyone who was introduced to the funeral doom genre by Ahab, a logical next step would be to acquire ye some Evoken. New Jersey’s finest have the same dedication to absolutely crushing heaviness, yet spice things up with creepy melodic lines and assorted other spooky details. There are fewer whales on here than there were in the 23rd century pre-Kirk’s time traveling mission in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but you won’t miss ‘em.

The key to enjoying any funeral doom album from start to finish is to be in the right mood. A slow afternoon in the dead of winter with a pair of headphones is preferable. Even better if your gal just broke up with you and you’ve been recently diagnosed with Canc-AIDS. Then thee shall be plenty miserable enough to withstand multiple 10-minute plus tracks that add up to over an hour of emptiness and despair. Evoken makes it an even easier task by being great songwriters with a good feeling for when the listener requires a change in riff, direction, or tone within a song.

I don’t like this album as much as I fucken love “Quietus”, which had a more death metal feel to the proceedings with switches between high and low growls along with sudden double bass attackery. “Antipenis” leans more towards the doom side, with bleak two or three note keyboard/cello melodies and more of a whispery tone to the vocal belchings.

Nonetheless, lots of good shit to be waded through for the avid funeral freak. It is best taken in as a whole rather than as separate pieces, but “Pavor nocturnus” and the title track do stand out from the pack. They will never be radio hits, unfortunately. The production combined with the sheer inhuman downtuning of EVERYTHING involved guarantees that. Could you imagine a sugared-up A.D.D. teenager looking up from their sexting session in horror as the first grinding riff of “The mournful refusal” lumbers forth from their radio? I can, and it is beautiful. Perhaps in an alternate reality… maybe one involving more humpbacks.

So for those who long for a guided tour ov the darkest catacombs ov human self-loathing, get yerself a copy ov this highly sought-after doomsterpiece. Be sure to time your wrist slitting to coincide with the end ov the last track so as not to miss out on a morsel ov the heaping helping ov crawling evil at hand. Ov.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Mercenary Musik / Avantgarde
- Website: Evoken MySpace
- Band
- John Paradiso: vocals, bass, guitars
- Nick Orlando: guitars
- Vince Verkay: drums
- Denny Hahn: keyboards

- Tracklist
- 01. Intro
- 02. In Solitary Ruin
- 03. Accursed Premonition
- 04. The Mournful Refusal
- 05. Pavor Nocturnus
- 06. Antithesis of Light
- 07. The Last of Vitality