Hierophant - The Tome
Solitude Productions – SP. 012-07 – April 10, 2007
By Wayward_Son
Easily one of the more polarizing doom sub-genres, funeral doom is constantly praised by those who indulge in the slow dirges of noise, and hated by the traditional doom metal crowd. Personally, this writer cares not whether this form of music is actually doom, and instead concentrating on the actual execution of the music.
Any individual heavily into this arcane form of music should, at the very least, be aware of
Hierophant’s existence. Originally released in 2003 and limited to a mere 135 copies,
The Tome became quite a sought-after item and launched
Hierophant into funeral doom legend. Comprised of the band’s three demos, stretching all the way back to 1994,
The Tome displays the entire career of this important band. It shows us that
Hierophant’s lone member, Xathagorra Mlandroth (who moved onto
Catacombs), helped bring about the formation of funeral doom with his 1994 EP, along with albums by
Thergothon,
Skepticism,
Esoteric, and
Funeral. This writer does accept the fact that all four of those bands brightly outshine
Hierophant, but that does not negate the fact that this particular band played an altogether different form of funeral doom.
Hierophant’s style can be best described as thick and suffocating. All of the songs are ultra slow hymns of low grumbles, sparse drums and keyboards, and practically the same chord played over and over ad nauseum. This is where the problem begins.
The Tome is extremely one-dimensional. Other than a few keyboards it is quite difficult to discern each song from the next, as they all move at the exact same pace.
While
Hierophanty not have bulldozed funeral doom into the 21st century, the band certainly did help, while at the same time paving a fine path for more bands obsessed with morosity. Special thanks must go to Solitude Productions for giving the Faithful another chance to hear a piece of history.
Official Solitude Productions Website
