What’s the first thing that comes to mind about Grey Metropolis from Denmark’s Sanctus Daemoneon? With Halloween coming up, it might be one to consider as the soundtrack to one of your morbid holiday gatherings. That statement is not intended to sound like I’m making fun of Grey Metropolis; it is just recognizing the fact that it is 31 minutes of ambient black/doom that has far more to do with setting the mood and the creation of chilling atmosphere than anything to do with conventional songwriting.

In fact, grey is the color that one “hears,” kind of like the way the album cover might “sound,” if that were in fact possible. It has been stated that “the debut album Grey Metropolis was written, recorded, mixed and mastered during a period of spiritual turbulence.” Sure, I can hear that, although I’d like to know more. The music floats, flows, and sometimes drones with lightly picked guitars and effects, while vocals range from whispers to croaks, all done in service to the album’s atmospheric centrality. Closing cut “Puzzled” is the only one that features a truly distinct melody line, which ultimately morphs into sonic ugliness.

The overall assessment then is that Grey Metropolis works if you are in a very specific mood (or if you are looking to set a very specific mood). Compositionally there is a tad more rhyme and reason than one might think and individual tracks do have more than a modicum of personality. Can I think of many occasions during which I would play it? Not really.

[Visit the band's website]

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