This is the first full-length from the Greek band Heathendom. They label themselves as power/doom, a rather interesting combination. Both genres demands high level musicianship and songwriting skills in order to be good, and should be strictly thought trough. I myself consider this to be dark power metal with nods to doom and gothic metal. This isn’t fast or energetic enough to be a full-blown power metal release, and it’s not mellow enough to be considered purely doom or gothic metal. Heathendom has awestruck many a reviewer with their dark, slightly symphonic and melodic debut, and I decided to check them out via their Myspace-page and found them rather interesting. It sounded like something I might like, and I figured out I should give them a try.

The exciting title-track kicks off the album after a short intro, and it left me wondering where Heathendom got their doom references from. The riffs are fast and aggressive, and are sharing more similarities with Communic and Nevermore than anything else. Dimitris Koutsouvelis’ soaring vocals and, especially his falsettos, are reminiscent of King Diamond. He has a good range, and mixes in some occasional growls here and there. Burn is more of a mid-paced crusher, but still doesn’t have much to do with the doom scene. However, the dark and gloomy atmosphere created by the melancholic choirs shows signs of where this is heading. Mirror of Memories is depressive with haunting vocals and sometimes ghost-like parts. I Bleed and A Sick Man’s Dream – Blissful Hell turns this completely around, and the energetic moments from the opening are replaced by depressive and haunting melodies towards the end. Harpsichord keyboards and gloomy acoustic interludes create an overall dark and pale atmosphere.

So, does this live up to expectations? Both yes and no. There are clear nods to both Candlemass, Solitude Aeternus and even Nevermore here. The guitar riffs are huge and crushing, and the distortion is very similar to their German partners in crime. The vocals are mostly very good, although the shifts between the somewhat harsh vocals and the clean melodic ones take some time getting used to. The rhythmic section is steady without really sticking out. The trouble seems to be, that although this sounds like a pretty varied and somewhat diverse release, it’s really darn monotonous, and my attention is occasionally slipping and completely ignoring the music. On the other hand, I’m not much of a doom fan, and the dark and gloomy stuff doesn’t really appeal to me. However, this is still not bad at all, and Heathendom makes a great effort trying to combine different genres. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but considering that this is their debut, this is pretty good and I’m interested in hearing more from these guys in the future. If you’re a fan of melodic dark and powerful metal, you should definitely give this a shot.