Raventale is a one man Doom Metal band from the Ukraine. Solitude Productions’ sub-label BadMoodMan Music has just taken the liberty of releasing the second and newest album, “Long Passed Days”.

 

The main portion of Raventale consists of atmospheric Doom Metal, although the distorted vocals may also hint towards Blackened Doom. Musically though, that comparison only counts for ‘From Time Of Black Wells’ which is somewhat like Forgotten Tomb on “Negative Megalomania” and some mid-era Katatonia albums. Otherwise the basics of Raventale are pretty similar to the old Anathema style, and it’s both not surprising  as well as impressive that the Anathema cover ‘Sunset Of The Age’ blends in well with the other material. The Ambient sounds make up for a thick suffocating cloud of atmosphere with the repetitive guitars residing underneath. So certainly the album does a lot right in terms of atmosphere, though I personally value a little less repetition of one and the same riff. Having said that, “Long Passed Days” is a still an album that’s bound to please numerous fans, although one has to wonder to what extent it manages to stand out in a fairly saturated sub-genre. If you ask me, it’s good but far from mandatory.