Review by Sandre The Giant
The sixth full length from Chilean doom lords Poema Arcanvs is the latest in a long history stretching back to the early 90s. ‘Stardust Solitude’ sees them taking their Yorkshire doom worship to new and dark places, and after approaching 30 years of plowing these furrows Poema Arcanvs sound like they know exactly how to write this kind of music.
The ghostly clean guitar that haunts the opening chords of ‘Stardust Solitude’ is a bit of a tease for what occurs next. This is some mighty doom, laden with death vocals but not just simply more of that genre. You’ve got a bit of epic doom melancholia seeping in with vocalist Claudio Carrasco proving to be incredibly versatile. There’s a lot of Paradise Lost in his delivery, and that goes for the music as well. There’s a gloomy grandeur to it that I really appreciate. The grinding churn of ‘Orphans’ evolves into something evoking Gojira in places, while the rumbling darkness of ‘Haven’ is lit by an impassioned croon.
It’s hard to describe what is most enchanting about this album. The quiet bleak moments in ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’ are a personal highlight, as is the sweeping crush of ‘Pilgrim’ and its world rending solo. Maybe it is the roiling guitar of the seasick ‘Straits of Devotion’. I suppose the true magic of this record is the way it can sound like Candlemass one second and Swallow the Sun the next, and the transition never seems jarring. That ancient Yorkshire doom thread keeps everything together, where the mood rarely lifts from a sense of poignant loneliness, encapsulated in the slow, drifting heft of closing track ‘Brave’.
‘Stardust Solitude’ is almost an hour long but the music within never outstays its welcome. There’s so much variety in what I assumed would be a standard doom record that I am taken aback. The dynamic shifts, the weight and yet fragility of the songwriting will leave you in awe. ‘Stardust Solitude’ is a glorious ode to a founding strand of doom, and Poema Arcanvs pay tribute with grace and vitality.
https://www.facebook.com/PoemaArcanvs/
https://poemaarcanvsdoom.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords
The Killchain 