Fires in the Distance - "Air Not Meant for Us"

Doom softens Death, I guess

Like the Solemn Visions review which posted earlier today, Air Not Meant for Us is a Melodic Death affair recommended by Scorched Moon vocalist and guitarist Trapper Lanthier. Unlike that first album, Fires in the Distance incorporates strong Doom Metal atmospherics and (stronger) proggy technicalities in their instrumentation.¹

It’s the Doom that really helps to differentiate and identify the music found on Air Not Meant for Us,² though. Because Doom isn’t just a sound – it’s a whole mood. Death Metal is meant to be egregious and violent, loud and abrasive; it’s double-kick driven rage, frustration, and raw aggression. Doom Metal, though, is slow and creeping; Doom portrays inevitability better than any other genre, exemplified perfectly by Khemmis’ “Beyond the Door”:³

“There is a light dancing upon the windowsill
It draws me in and I begin to realize
This is no dream, I won’t escape the spreading fire
Immobilized, only my eyes reflect my fright”

The blend of Death and Doom is an incredibly natural fit. For as much as I dislike the harsh vox, I can’t not admit that.

And FIres in the Distance are, frankly, masters of this blend. All of the harshness of Death with all of the patience and dread of Doom are present here. Right from the outset, with the almost-eleven-minute opener, “Harbingers”, the band sets an impeccable tone. It gives me chills.

I think part of what I enjoy most about this is that it rarely feels like the band is asking the death growls to carry the melody on its own, or even really deferring the melody too much because of the growls. Rather, they’re present, but the melody is firmly carried by guitar and then handed off to this beautifully light, twinkly piano, which glimmers like hope in the Doomy atmosphere; or to a brief-but-effective sting interlude. There’s always enough other going on that I’m not forced to dwell on the growls.

There’s also an incredible amount of raw patience in these compositions, which is always incredibly necessary for Doom, but you wouldn’t expect to find a young MeloDeath band very capable of. That patience is what makes the album work – nothing is ever rushed; the songs proceed at the pace which they naturally require. And this has resulted in a fifty-minute album comprised of just six tracks, the shortest of which, “Adrift, Beneath the Listless Waves”,  is a six-minute instrumental.

I actually really enjoyed this album. The melodic elements were strong, the Doom elements are sublime, and the instrumentation felt almost whimsical at points, providing an interesting contrast.

I do have to point out that this album does have an instrumental version, which I may need to give a go at some point.

Rating: Green

1. The parenthetical is needed because the proggy elements weren’t absent in Despite the Rise of the Sun, but they were frequently less important or even just less noticeable due to the all-out nature of that album.

2. At least, insofar as comparing these two albums, because Death-Doom is not an original genric blend; it’s been utilized for decades already by bands like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride.

3. I can’t not toss a bit of recognition to the band, and the specific song, which ignited my love of Doom. If you haven’t heard Khemmis, go listen.