Shadows

Though Goreaphobia founder Alex Bouks is best known for his contributions to death metal, Shadows is much more on the doom side of things. The self-titled EP is dark metal, depressive and bleak despite its clean vocals. Lead guitarist Jake Gannon does the vocals in a flat and occasionally off-key baritone, groaning out the horror-story lyrics. The guitars are buzzing and abrasive, without a lot of bottom end -- more like dark punk than metal. Though the melodies have a tendency towards aimlessness, the repetition of the music has its high points: The vampire-themed Night of the Goat Winter Moon's relentless pounding makes it a lot heavier than a different treatment with the same sound would afford it. But to me, Ancient Eyes sounds the best here. Without Gannon's vocals driving the song forward, the band lingers on guitar noodling on top of synth and vocal effects, making a better-sounding song, though still a repetitious one. For those who are familiar with the band members' death metal pedigree, Shadows is quite different. It does have the feel of an experiment, a bit more riffing on here rather than so much atmospheric repetition might have made this a little more memorable, even if it is supposed to be a dark metal project.