TOTALSELFHATRED – according to the information not a band that drowns in self-pity in view of the unbearable lightness of being, but is on the way of searching, never resting.
This search passes off relatively leisurely. The seven atmospherically immensely dense tracks are presented mainly in mid tempo. The Finns understand to put the listener almost into a hypnotic state nearly three quarters of an hour, which is not always easy to digest in view of such depressive music. The vocal duo A. and C. screeches capably through the prairie, whereas you can’t find any recognition value in the vocals.
The crux of Totalselfhatred finally is a mixture of the things already mentioned. Writing atmospherically dense songs is a good thing, but mainly acting according to the book, is boring in perpetuity. The band is definitely missing rousing ideas. The vocals underline this impression as well as the bog-standard keyboard pads and the Gothic-like piano and string sounds.
It gets pretty interesting when TOTALSELFHATRED floor the accelerator and when one can hear deep and clean sung vocals (Spirituelles Equilibrium) or when the band comes up with surprising key changes. Thus, the aforesaid song can definitely be considered as the album highlight.
Now and then the listener is reminded of Katatonia during their blessedly Brave Murder Day era, but a bit more gloomy (Mighty Black Dimensions – very cool refrain with clean vocals btw.).
To sum that up: the Finns certainly will neither revolutionize the Black Metal scene with the actual output nor they probably didn’t want to do that. The CD is suited fine for an atmospheric trip in a slow tempo and in view of the numerous good ideas worth developing, seven points are definitely justified.