OPHTHALAMIA

Release Year: 2017
Artist Origin: SWE
Style: dark atmospheric blackened doom metal

sophomore full-length from this exceptional company, featuring meticulously arranged and deeply melancholic music, was released in 1995, becoming a culmination of these Swedes, despite certain line-up changes - be that as it may, both bassist Emil "Night" Nödtveidt [Deathstars] and vocalist Erik "Legion" Hagstedt [ex.Marduk] made highly successful first serious appearances in the scene, laying the groundwork for their future careers while fitting perfectly the cult aesthetic of atmospheric doom-infused black metal; six unique, epic and lengthy tracks, together with magical intro and outro passages, resemble a harmonious ritual, celebrating some mysterious world inaccessible to ordinary mortals, where darkness becomes not a threat but a refuge, while mysticism and weight of the guitars merge into a cohesive, hypnotic tale of pain, solitude and eternal wandering through labyrinths of the unknown; recent British double black 180g vinyl edition comes with extensive liner notes by Dan Swanö and Metallion inside the pro-printed inner sleeves, as well as two bonus tracks, including Mayhem Deathcrush cover