Shadowland - Through the Curtain of Falling Leaves (Album Review)

Tracklist:

1. Last August Rain     

2. Dead Soul     

3. Victoria     

4. Victoria (Part 2)     

5. Fright of Coming Winter     

6. Non-Existent Skyline     

7. Through the Curtain of Falling Leaves     

8. Cold Autumn Wind 

This is the third full length release from the recently formed and prolific independent Russian Atmospheric/Ambient black metal project Shadowland.

Considering the large quantity of atmospheric black metal projects around at the moment I don’t get the chance to listen to as much of the genre as I would like to, but this project really caught my ear after I heard the seventh track off the album Through the Curtain of Falling Leaves.

This is, for the most part, an incredibly powerful and downright beautiful album that perfectly mixes an abundance of inspired synthesizer work that has a strong resemblance to dungeon synth with more conventional black metal elements such as harrowing screams and melodic riff work.

However, for me this albums highlights were its moments of dungeon synth, the tracks Victoria, and Victoria (Part 2) really showcased some of the best playing but good synth work is prevalent throughout almost every track on the album.

My only complaint about this album is its length, it comes in at just under 65 minutes which is perhaps a little too long, and I did find that it was beginning to lose some direction and momentum towards the final few tracks, especially the final track Cold Autumn Wind which left the album’s conclusion a little flat with its sudden shift in style to distorted and drone like ambient.

However despite a few issues this is still a good release, and one that is well worth taking the time to check out if naturalistic gloom driven synth infused black metal is your thing. 

Check out the band's bandcamp page here