A little warning in advance, I would go ahead and mark this under the “give it time to grow on you” category. Acolytes Of Moros are a Swedish doom act that have been around for about a decade. They have one full length to their name; the mighty hour-long effort titled The Wellspring. An effort of heavy proportions, it’s crafted on five songs that exceed the ten-minute mark, save for only one. For that, it’s understandably chock full of different ingredients that slowly blend themselves together without much sudden action.
However, this does make for songs that feel like they could have been broken up into separate tracks. “A Yen To Relinquish And Evanesce” has a full cut-to-silence about halfway through, going from its typical doom riffage and epic-styled vocals to a super somber and clean guitar passage. When the heavier push kicks back in, the structure is slightly altered, giving it enough life to finish itself off. The vocals are a big part of the “mood” aspect, as they have a very operatic feel. This complements the melancholic undertow that grips itself to the entire release. Weirdly enough though, they will drop in the occasional growl, made apparent in the first song “Disenthralled From The Trammels Of Deception.” Things like this are also a nice way of breaking it all up.
Admittedly, the other reason why it’s such a grower album is something that almost always bogs things down for me. You guessed it, some of these songs could have easily stood to be trimmed up. “Forbearance” is the aforementioned shorter song (that still hits six minutes), a softer instrumental interlude that bridges the two halves. I do love how this one reflects the feelings of peace that the album cover’s moody nature scene suggests. But even it, along with the others, could have stood to be brought back significantly.
You can understand that by the last two tracks “Quotidian” and “Venerate The Dead,” I’m over The Wellspring. Not to say that nothing new is added, because the subtle drum pummels dropped into the former were a neat surprise. This is nicely crafted, and I urge doom fans from all corners of the world to give it a spin. But be warned, you’ll need a decent chunk of time set aside, and a mindset ready for some drawn-out riffing and howling vocals.
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