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Now, I'm not about to proclaim myself a funeral doom expert. I enjoy the genre, but it is one I enjoy in small doses and limit myself to a few bands (the greats of course). Fortunately enough, Evoken have found a place in the funeral doom I enjoy and as a casual fan of the genre I think that says something about the quality of the music Evoken play.

Okay, okay, so they're not full-on funeral doom, they have quite a bit of death metal influence in their sound too. Embrace the Emptiness is the band's debut album seeing a re-release on Elegy Records this year. With the exception of an intro, we have six tracks here, none of which is shorter than 9 minutes. Each and every track is a crushing display, with excellent dynamics, a great ear for melody, and great clarity of each instrument. I found the best way to listen to this is was to turn the lights off, lie down in bed and listen to this on my headphones. I found myself picking out the most subtle elements of the sound and falling in love with them, this may be slow but there isn't one wasted note throughout the album's 70 minutes.

I mean, come on, with song titles such as "Chime the Centuries End" this had to be awesome. This is the kind of album you look to for a musical journey, and this journey just happens to crush your soul in the process. Fans of acts such as Esoteric, Thergothon, Pantheist or even Disembowelment should get this right now if they haven't already. Recommended.