Review of Pantheist - Uncanny Times / Argonauta Records

 I've heard plenty of funeral doom albums where everything moves at a crawl and the songs eventually start blending into each other. PANTHEIST avoid that problem to some extent on Uncanny Times, mainly thanks to Linda Dumitru's soprano vocals. Hearing her alongside Kostas Panagiotou's growls gives the music a different feel, and it's probably the thing I like most about this album.

“The Final Journey” opens with piano and clean guitar before the heavy riffs and organ come in. It takes a while to get there, but that's funeral doom for you. Linda's voice fits the music really well, especially when Kostas joins in. The contrast between them works better than I expected, and the guitar leads give the song some memorable moments too.

“Ithaca Out of Sight” has cello and acoustic guitar in its quieter parts, before the heavier riffs take over. There's a lot going on, though sometimes I think the band could cut a few minutes here and there. I like long doom songs, but length alone doesn't make every passage better.

“Laughing Falcon” is one of the heavier moments, with more death-doom in the riffs and a rougher vocal performance from Kostas. It gives the album a kick in the arse before “Kuebiko” slows things down again. The instrumental “Entropy” is a bit different, and “Requiem for Your World” closes the album with more piano, organ and soprano vocals.

I have mixed feelings about the length of some songs, but the vocal combination keeps me interested. Linda doesn't just sing over the music; she gives PANTHEIST another way to build their songs, and the heavier parts benefit from it. There are moments when things drag, but I still prefer this to an album where every song follows the same pattern. Uncanny Times has enough good ideas to make it worth the time, even if I wouldn't mind a little less of it.

https://pantheistuk.bandcamp.com/album/uncanny-times

Thanks to Grand Sounds PR.