Passage (Dunkelheit Produktionen)

 I remember having heard and reviewed Bosque’s first demo, entitled “Dead Nature”, back in 2005, I was pretty amazed by the unusual and meditative blend of Doom Metal this band delivered. After that I lost the trace of this one man project for several years, until now, when I received a promo copy of “Passage” from Dunkelheit Produktionen. This album is the tape version of the first full length album (originally released under Total Holocaust Records in 2009) of this enigmatic Portuguese project; this album consist in four tracks clocked at 44 minutes of atmospheric, ethereal and mysterious Doom Metal, each composition seems to be based over ambient laden structures, where monotone, trance-inducing riffing delivers probably the most tangible metallic element of the entire opus with its droning and crawling sound. The drumming here is incredibly subtle, almost inexistent at some passages, which increases the whole ethereal feeling of this record, while the vocal work, following the path of its preceding works, consist in distant echoing voices, creating a ghostly and disturbing ambiance of tranquility. Bosque has been constantly labeled as a Funeral Doom Metal band, but this definition becomes insufficient when we try to describe its music, maybe Ambient Doom Metal would be a more appropriate label for describing the highly ethereal yet dense blend of music this one man band creates, but whatever we call this particular style we can deny the magnetism of Bosque’s proposal. “Passage” is an interesting and introspective album, but is definitely not for the masses; this album could easily disconcert a more traditional Doom Metal listener with its delicate lack of tension, but will certainly thrill anyone into the more ambient laden side of obscure music, so if you are into Ambient, Drone, Black Ambient, and of course into Doom Metal, “Passage” could be exactly what you were looking for: a perfect soundtrack for a meditative journey in solitude… (AP)