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It was Saturday night and Ye Olde Salutation Inn was packed to the rafters. Like tens of others, Bob and Pete were faced with the arduous mission of reaching the front of the bar to get their drinks.
— Why is the pub more crowded than a ‘Spoons in Freshers Week? — Pete asked Bob.
— There’s a gig upstairs. Pirate metal, I think.
— Pirate metal?! I didn’t know so many people had the rare ability to tolerate Alestorm. I feel like I’ve been waiting here for longer than I’ve waited for a new Daylight Dies album.
— Oh, in that you might be wrong Pete. We might be able to listen to some Daylight Dies-related material before we reach the bar.
— What the hell are you talking about?
— Have you heard of Cold Communion?
— Doesn’t ring a bell.
— It’s the most recent venture of Barre Gambling, Daylight Dies’ lead guitarist. He’s in “communion” with another musician, Tim Rowland, in this two-piece project — explained Bob as he showed the Metal-Archives band page to Pete.
— ‘Monuments to Ruin’… I was not aware of this! — exclaimed Pete as he held Bob’s phone to meticulously study the band’s entry.
— That’s because you think you’re too kvlt to use Facebook. Daylight Dies announced the project and shared the first single in November, last year.
— Well, seems I’m not that kvlt ’cos I don’t know Barre’s accomplice, Tim Rowland. And, to further display my ignorance, I don’t think I’m familiar with any of these bands he’s been in.
— I actually took the time to investigate this individual in advance. Caucasian male in his late 30s. Born in Athens, that’s not Athens Greece, but Athens Georgia, that’s not Georgia the country in the Caucasus, but the state in the US. He’s been involved in a considerable number of projects, mainly death, doom, and some dungeon synth. Nevertheless, on the Cold Communion Bandcamp page, Rowland simply claims to play for Hole Dweller, a dungeon synth solo project. As it turns out, Hole Dweller has nearly a whopping 25k monthly listeners on Spotify. Of course, neither of us is fond of this particular genre, hence our ignorance about Hole Dweller. Otherwise, for our purposes, Silent Vigil is the most relevant of his projects. Very elaborate melodic doom/death metal, seems highly influenced by Daylight Dies. I certainly recommend that you give it a listen, you won’t be disappointed.
— Then, if we were to say that Cold Communion is a balanced agreement between the two parties, should I expect something similar to Daylight Dies, or should I brace myself for a dungeon synth version of ‘A Final Vestige’?
— Luckily for both of us, Pete, the former is the case. Cold Communion play melodic doom/death metal pretty much in the vein of Daylight Dies. We get all the inherent elements of this well-defined style: the permanent lead guitars, the mid-tempo drumming, the brutal growls, the mandatory guitar solos, and the overall melancholic connotation, a style primarily concerned with melodies, indeed.
— That’s a relief. Although, to be honest with you Bob, since the spectacular return of October Tide in 2010, the number of bands applying this melodic doom/death metal formula has sky-rocketed. I find it difficult to discover bands that offer anything meaningful that will make me come back to them.
— Well, surely most of those bands describe themselves on Bandcamp as ‘melodic doom/death metal inspired by October Tide, Katatonia, Rapture and Daylight Dies‘. The difference is that here we have the Daylight Dies guy in the lineup. It’s like Counting Hours, where you get the Rapture guy. These are people who’ve been in the business for a while and are masters in their craft. That’s noticeable in ‘Monuments to Ruin’.
— I remember Barre’s other side project, Atten Ash. It was different in essence; they played around with keyboards and clean vocals. Sometimes you would forget you were listening to a Daylight Dies guitarist.
— Oh, Atten Ash was great, wasn’t it? This time, the moment ‘Monuments to Ruin’ kicks off, you immediately recognise Barre’s distinct guitar tone, technique and songwriting. In that sense, yes, Atten Ash left more room for experimentation. ‘Monuments to Ruin’ has a more bare-bones approach. No keyboards, no clean vocals. What we get is an indulgence on guitar leads, riffs and solos. Both musicians master the melancholic melodies on guitars with absolutely gorgeous results. The guitar work is technical and complex. I know you’re against abusing technical playing in doom metal, but…
— Well, unlike with examples where musicians simply want to show off their skills with unnecessary crazy solos, I’m OK with cases like Daylight Dies, where technical guitar playing appears as an extension to the melodies you hear in the lead guitars. Hence, the technical elements support the entire melancholic atmosphere. I assume that’s the case with ‘Monuments to Ruin’?
— Correct. And similarly, the drumming, performed by Rowland, is complex, precise, and flawless. Drums sound clean and loud in the mix. The tempo they govern varies significantly with some songs landing deep into melodic death metal lands… See that lucky bloke in the Insomnium shirt who’s being served? I’m sure he’d enjoy Cold Communion!
— Who knows, Bob. What if his favourite part in Insomnium are the clean vocals? You said ‘Monuments to Ruin’ is growled from beginning to end…
— Yeah, no cleans this time. Rowland provides all vocals. His style, as also heard in Silent Vigil, is less deep and brutal than not only Daylight Dies’ Nathan Ellis but, I would say, the average growls in the melodic doom/death metal sphere. This is not a drawback at all, simply a different pitch. What matters is that Rowland performed his vocals with excellent technique for his range. But, perhaps more remarkably, the vocal arrangements flow perfectly with the guitar melodies. In yet another unfair comparison, while Daylight Dies‘ richer sound exploits clean vocals to emphasize the softer passages, Cold Communion, with its more lightweight structure, manages so well the vocal arrangements that I don’t think clean vocals are largely missed. Although the duo also offers less softer passages, they do exist scattered throughout the album and strategically located at the end of the album. These passages bring back the signature acoustic guitars that we all missed from Barre.
As he curiously listened to Bob’s detailed analysis, Pete continued with his Metal-Archives spiralling and, astonished by his findings, he told Bob:
— Check it out! This month marks 20 years since ‘Dismantling Devotion’ was released! Can’t believe it’s been 20 years since I downloaded into my iPod the video of ‘Lies that Bind’ at glorious 480p. They had gone on tour with Katatonia who had just released ‘The Great Cold Distance’ in the same month… Damn, aren’t we old Bob?
— Jeez, 20 years! In absence of any recent Daylight Dies material, I’ll be blasting Cold Communion to celebrate. ‘Monuments to Ruin’ might not offer much innovation, but who needs it in this case?! The last time we heard anything new from Barre was already 14 years ago. I’m absolutely pleased to listen to his exquisite guitar playing again. The musicianship in this album clearly shows two experienced artists at their best, bringing the perfect balance between melancholy and aggression that the whole genre is about. You know, if Metal-Archives ever accepted my reviews, I’d give this album a 95/100, and… Pete! we’re next!
— Finally! A pint of the Castle Rock session, and a pint of Doombar please.
After getting their drinks, Pete suggested that they should find a table in the Cromwell snug, as far as it gets from the stairs to the pirate metal gig. On their way, they bumped into the guy in the Insomnium shirt, and Bob pulled out his inner extrovert:
— Hey, nice t-shirt! Have you heard of Cold Communion?
COLD COMMUNION LINKS:
Metal-Archives
Spotify
Bandcamp
[Written by Pablo Lopez-Custodio]
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