Three Eyes Left - The Cult Of Astaroth (EN)

A few days ago I reviewed the longplayer "Ordeal" of the Italian Doom / Sludge Metal band Sator that will be released at the first of september. They get 8 of 10 points. Now I scrutinize Three Eyes Left, also a band from Italy, of the same label and same genre. I was curious if they can also leave a strong impression with their third album "The Cult Of Astaroth"like their label colleagues did.

The album is opened with "Sons Of Aries" that lasts 10 ½ minutes. They start with a calm acoustic guitar and female voice samples. Even if the guitar has delicate sounds it has already doom nature but also a progressive touch. Whenever one is thinking that a melody will be created, well-known dissonances of the progressive field appear. Then very dark, skewed and raw guitars begin and rise to even higher levels. The song turns into an energetic and heavy doom metal piece in liaison with bass and drums. One is reminded again and again of the early Black Sabbath not at least because of the vocals of Marc.

Well, Marc also offers other vocal skills than in this clear way. Already in the second song "You Suffer... I, The Evil Dead" he presents brute screeches and deep growls and creates directly a pleasant surprise, at least one doesn't know the band. One did not expect that. The musical diversity of the songs is increased by the change of the different vocal styles in additional.

The above comes to bear in nearly all songs and emphasizes the features that creates the own special style of the band in addition to the tempo changes, breaks and resurfacing samples.

One hardly notices the blues elements that are often used in Sludge. (well, perhaps with good will) But the sogginess owed by the genre is very pronounced due to the production. Don't misunderstand: The sogginess relates particularly to the very raw kind of riffing that however brings the dark – I would rather say – sinister focus of the music very well off. Music and lyrics can be perfectly highlighted and complement each other in a great way. Even if it is faster (of course in a doom way) like in "Chants Into The Grave" the darkness doesn't get lost a second. Maybe some samples that occur repeatedly seem to be strange for the one or another in the first moments, but in the end it supports the songs.

Conclusion:
To stick more closely to the above statement if Three Eyes Left can leave a similar strong impression like their label and genre colleagues: Yes, they can and that even more better. Even one cannot really compare those bands as their sounds differ quite widely from another despite the similar orientation, they have clearly the same genre. They only present it in different ways.

Certainly, Three Eyes Left knocks a strong Doom Album out with "The Cult Of Astaroth" that combines everything that constitutes dark and heavy Doom. The progressive touch and the diversity give the music a high level of independence and makes it also attractive for Doom fans as for Sludge lover. Both should absolutely listen to it. It is such an album where careful listening is more important than only listen to it by the way.

Rating: 9/10

Recommendations: Everything