THE 11TH HOUR - Lacrima Mortis
Two years ago the Swedish-Dutch duo The 11th Hour won me over with their debut Burden Of Grief. In the meantime they have developed into a real band consisting of four musicians. Original members Ed Warby (Gorefest, Ayreon, Hail Of Bullets,…) and Rogga Johansson (Demiurg, Paganizer,…) have recruited Daniel Huijben and Frank Harthoom (Gorefest) in order to be able to play live.
From a musical perspective, not much has changed on Lacrima Mortis, which isn’t really a problem as they are still playing quality dark doom metal. This time the songs are a bit shorter though, with none of the current tracks making it over nine minutes. But apart from the final track, none is shorter than seven minutes. Apart from these mathematical considerations, I can confirm that The 11th Hour are still practising their wonderful epic doom metal. I especially like the interaction between clean and dark vocals, courtesy of the two founding members. The band may play quite traditional doom metal, but they never go astray. Some tracks surprise with a spooky atmosphere that goes right under the skin. The piano and keyboard parts furthermore help to create a very melancholic mood that fit perfectly the lyrics which are often dealing with death.
As the album sounds very homogenous, it’s hard to pick out any favourites, as all of them more or less maintain the same high quality level. Right now I especially like Tears Of The Bereaved, but it’s quite possible that I would pick another track next time around. If you like doom metal, you will certainly find yourself attracted to The 11th Hour. They may be cooking with water like everybody else, but their water at least comes from a very pure source.