Artist: Янтарные Слезы (Amber Tears) [Russia]
Album Title: Ключ к Декабрю ("The Key To December")
Record Label: BadMoodMan Music (Russia)
Released: 2010 (December)
Purchased From: The Omega Order
If you're a fan of Slavic pagan metal, you should probably familiarize yourself with the Belarusian doom metal band Gods Tower if you haven't already. Some consider them to be the first metal band to use themes of Slavic mythology, which would make them one of the early pagan metal bands. Gods Tower, although not as well-known as they should be, are highly respected among Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Russian pagan metal fans and artists, and one of the bands that paid respect to them on a 2005 tribute CD is Amber Tears, a pagan doom metal band from Russia.
In 2006, the debut album of Amber Tears, entitled Revelations of Renounced, was released by the Stygian Crypt label, apparently before that label began cranking out endless CD's of Folkearth and their spin-offs. Revelations of Renounced is a great debut, and I discovered it at the perfect time, just as I was immersing myself in the music of Gods Tower. I could hear the influence of the late Alexander Urakoff's distinct style of lead guitar in this young Russian band; however, upon repeated listens, Amber Tears began to establish their own identity in my mind, and I became hooked on their gorgeously melodic doom metal. It was a bit of a wait before their sophomore album, The Key To December, arrived at the end of 2010, but happily they delivered a great follow-up, this time on BadMoodMan and Solitude Records.
First of all, let me thank The End Records/The Omega Order for stocking The Key To December. Sometime in January, I was surprised to find that the album had been released just a month or so earlier, but I had no idea how I was going to purchase it, since it can sometimes be difficult to track down specific Russian releases here in the U.S. Therefore, I'm grateful to them, because otherwise I'd probably still be trying to find it.
Anyway, on to the music. Amber Tears (they go by both Янтарные Слезы and Amber Tears, which is a bit unconventional, I think) plays a richly melodic brand of doom metal. The guitar leads are slow and drawn-out, like those of Gods Tower, and are, quite honestly, the biggest draw of this band for me. For the most part, the other instruments provide a lovely musical bed for the lead guitar to weave its way around. And it's not as if this is complicated, fast guitar work here. It's emotional and absolutely gorgeous. It's difficult for me, with my limited ability to describe music, to be able to express how much I enjoy Dmitry Tschukin's work on this album, but it's really the central appeal of the band for me. That is not to take all the attention from the rest of the band, as they are certainly a group of musicians whose talents complement each other quite nicely. The rhythm guitar maintains the melody while the lead guitar soars into the stratosphere, while the rhythm section of bass and drums provide the backbone. The lovely synths, which are almost always present, provide a ton of atmosphere and also complement the lead guitar very well.
The vocals, which consist of death metal-like growls and spoken words, don't really stand out much, but that seems to fit with the laid-back vibe of the band. I suppose they're appropriate for what I'm guessing are melancholic lyrics, though the lyrics are all in Russian so I'm not sure. English translations of the song titles indicate that the prevailing themes here are winter, cold, and sadness. Despite the sound of shuffling snow and wind in the intro, there's a warmth to the lush arrangements that makes me feel happy rather than sad when I listen to the album. I guess it could just be the effect of listening to such beautiful music that few others have heard.
The album consists of 8 tracks, of which three are mainly instrumental. The synth intro is okay but nothing really special, though it does set the tranquil, wintry mood. Things get moving with "Gray Days Eternity," though they don't get moving very quickly. The pace of this song, like the other songs to follow, is pretty slow. The band never exceeds mid-pace on any part of The Key To December, but that's just fine with me. "Gray Days Eternity" features a few softer sections where the lead guitar is accompanied by the gusli, a Russian stringed instrument that provides much of the "folkiness" found on the CD. Dmitry Tschukin plays this as well. The next few tracks continue much in the same way as "Gray Days Eternity." There's a consistency among the songs that some listeners may call "sameness." The debut album seemed to have more of a variety in pacing and mood, but I like the atmosphere that The Key To December creates. It's an album I can listen to from beginning to end without ever feeling tempted to skip ahead a track. It's nice to sit back and just take it all in.
Towards the end of the CD (track six to be exact) lies the album's only true surprise. This gentle song, mostly instrumental except for some softly spoken words towards the beginning, features acoustic guitar, synths, and then the gusli and some hand percussion. It sounds almost like an instrumental you'd hear on an Orphaned Land CD, and it's quite lovely. That song is followed by "Gray Hill's Sadness," which is a favorite of mine. Several months before the album's release, I found a great Youtube clip of Amber Tears performing this song in a live setting, and I watched the clip over and over again because I found the song so entrancing. I'm glad to finally have it on disc, even though there are some differences between the two versions. Finally, the album closes with another gentle instrumental, this time featuring acoustic guitar and gusli with some soft textures in the background.
If you can't tell, I really, really like The Key To December. Amber Tears has not messed with the formula that was so successful on Revelations of Renounced, which will come as a relief to some but possibly will disappoint those hoping for a progression. Because this is doom metal, the album moves at a pretty relaxed pace, so if you don't normally enjoy doom metal, it's very possible that the pace of this album will irritate you. I only listen to a limited amount of doom metal, but, in my opinion, this is an album to be savored. My only complaints would be that I wish there were more songs on the album, and perhaps some more variety in the vocals. There was a moment of clean vocals on the first album, but on here it's just growls and spoken words. They're not bad, and certainly not distracting, but I think it's an area where the band could improve for what I hope is an eventual third album.
Fans of Gods Tower, melodic doom metal, and Slavic folk metal are encouraged to open their minds and ears to a wonderful ensemble known as Amber Tears (or Янтарные Слезы/Yantarnie Slezy, if you prefer). If music this beautiful doesn't make your heart swell, I feel bad for you.
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