Saturnus - Saturn in Ascension
Cyclone Empire
Gothic Doom Metal
8 songs (70:02)
Release year: 2012
Saturnus, Cyclone Empire
Reviewed by Milan
Archive review

As 2012 came to a close I didn’t expect any more surprises. Last year had its fair share of good and bad releases and I was looking forward to what 2013 would bring. That quickly changed as I found out Saturnus was finally releasing its new album, Saturn in Ascension, after a six year wait. How I almost missed this I do not know. Maybe it’s because Saturnus seems to be a band that spends years honing their craft, releasing a work of art every five years, only to retreat back to Denmark, spending another five years in silence and obscurity before showing a sign of life again. But whenever they do decide to come out of the woods (or whatever the most common type of vegetation is in Denmark), they bring along with them a world of utter beauty and sadness, one tons of other gothic doom metal bands wish they could create. Maybe that’s also why their releases mostly go unnoticed aside from their devoted fanbase. That’s a real shame, for Saturnus have everything a gothic doom aficionado longs for, and they have it in spades.

Litany of Rain, the album’s opener, shows off all the typical Saturnus trademarks. It starts out with angelic chanting until the entire band comes in, a grandiose lead guitar melody taking the spotlight, supported by a wall of distortion and slow, pounding drums, something that characterizes most of the entire album. After a minute Thomas Jensen’s growls enters the stage, and they’re as guttural as they can get yet somehow he keeps the lyrics quite comprehensible. Throughout the song he alternates this ferocious growl with talking in a soft, monotous voice. These are basically the only two vocal styles that are conistently used on the album and while to some this might get repetitive, it never becomes boring and they both complement each other very well. After ten minutes that only feel like five the song is over and you just know you’re in for a treat as Wind Torn begins, again featuring a deceivingly simple yet gorgeous lead guitar melody that instantly hooks itself into your brain and does not let go. The song basically follows the same formula as the album opener, as does about half of the album, but these Danes are such masters of their craft that more of the same is more than welcomed. That also means Saturnus have a few other tricks up their sleeves, tricks that make this album so much more than what it would have been if they repeated their gothic doom recipe for its entire seventy minute running time.

There are two kind of tracks where Saturnus change it up a little, either by dropping the doom part of their genre tag almost completely and emphasizing the gothic aspect of their sound (not the Hot Topic make-up kind, mind you) or by turning down the volume and only using acoustics. The one and only example of the former is A Father’s Providence, one of the album’s many highlights. The pace is sped up slightly, Thomas mostly shouting his words as opposed to using his usual growl, with the lead guitar taking more of a backseat to make room for soft piano playing and faster riffwork. With it’s five minutes in length it’s also one of the shortest tracks on the album and makes for a nice change of pace amongst all the typical doom and gloom. Saturnus are far from a happy bunch and this becomes more than obvious when listening to A Lonely Passage or Call of the Raven Moon, both mainly acoustic with Thomas softly reading the poetry that are his lyrics. Especially A Lonely Passage, a song about fighting your inner demons, struck more than a few personal chords and has the capability to silence everyone around you, bringing sadness to even the coldest of souls.

Saturnus manage to keep the momentum going throughout most of the entire album, only taking a slight dip in the last two songs where they fully return to their usual recipe of massive riffs and shining lead guitar. Forest of Insomnia and Between are far from bad (they’re still songs any other of their contemporaries would fight for) but neither of the two reaches the magnificence of Litany of Rain or Wind Torn, although they come very close. That’s about the only complaint I have about the album and even then I feel I’m nitpicking. Some might find Thomas' growl monotonous and I guess in a way they’d be right as he rarely goes for a higher register. Yet this never becomes bothersome due to the variety in songwriting throughout the album.

After a few months this slowly became my favourite album of 2012. Not because it brings anything new to the table, because it clearly doesn’t. Not for the entire gothic doom genre, not even for Saturnus. This is a refinement of their sound, honed to perfection during the six years after the release of Veronika Decides to Die, and shows Saturnus at the top of not only their game but the entire genre. It’s an album perfectly suited for a walk in the forest during a rainy afternoon and one that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. It seemed to have flown under the radar of many so I encourage anyone to take one last look at 2012 and give this a listen, you will not be disappointed.

Killing Songs :
Litany of Rain, A Father's Providence, A Lonely Passage
Milan quoted 93 / 100
Other albums by Saturnus that we have reviewed:
Saturnus - Martyre reviewed by Alex and quoted 81 / 100
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