Review: Old Night “A Fracture in the Human Soul” [Rain Without End Records]

Since their initial inception back in 2015, Old Night is something of a sonic oddity, especially in Croatia, or even the Balkan area which is soaring with mostly death and thrash metal acts.  The band was formed in 2015 by Luka Petrovic, best known as the lyricist and one of the main composers of Ashes You Leave. But here we are talking about a different beast of doom

Although doom metal in its core, the sound vastly flirts with melancholic and bluesy patterns making them recognizable even with the first album Pale Cold Irrelevance from 2017.

The new album A Fracture in the Human Soul again released on Rain without End records continues the same path, perfecting their formula. While their debut album was a solid presentation of their sound which consist of three guitarist and three vocalists (!) they were still treading on the traditional doom metal formula.

A Fracture in the Human Soul contains everything that works on Pale Cold Irrelevance and chipping off the rough edges. It’s more massive in sound and production, more fluid in the songwriting and catchier; in short, it’s surer of its self and its identity.

What stayed since the debut album are the long minute signatures with the first two songs Entwined and Hearken and Remember going over 10 minute mark. Yet, not one moment that I had the feeling that the songs were dragging over and tempting me to go for the next track button. The songs take their time and takes over with their slow groove and melancholic solos serving as songs high notes.

The odd one of the album is definetly Elder which lasts around 4 minutes, for Old Night standards and doom metal in general, it barely stands for an intro, or a snare drum soundcheck.

The next track Glacial shows that the heavier side of the band is still present, with Luka´s growls finally emerging in the chorus. Speaking of vocals; Matej Hažek´s vocals are perfectly blended with the music and I can’t clearly think of no one who could do a better job, the same stand with his brother Ivan who contributes the backing vocals.

With three guitars and three vocals on the album it may sound like a crowded affair but each member is playing their part without stepping on each other’s space and everyone has its role to play in the songs. That much is most present in the finishing parts of Glacial and Reaping of Hearts.

Reaping of Hearts serves as very solid album closer although it misses the greatness mark of the previous songs by a cunt hair. With only five tracks of the album Old Night still did a fantastic job and proved that they are just a one hit wonder with the first album.

For doom lovers and all those who feel like that, this is a hidden gem with its own melancholic sound signature is very worth checking out.