Tales Of Dark - Fragile Monuments (2006)

1. 	Via Descendens 	12:10 	  
2. 	Mephistorium 	13:00 	  
3. 	Of Grandiose Fevers and Passion Arcane 	08:37 	  
4. 	Luciferian Elegy 	16:33 	  
5. 	Towering Grief Behemoth 	07:16 	  
6. 	Serpent Wisdom 	11:58 	

Arpad Takacs - Vocals
Darko Stojanović  - Drums
Davor Menzildžic - Keyboards
Svetlana Radeka - Bass
Kristijan Zavodski - Guitars
Nikola Čavar - Guitars
Jovana Karajanov - Vocals (female)

Tales Of Dark hail from Serbia and offer through their music some really strong and inspired melodic doom/death metal. "Fragile Monuments" is their debut album and it was released during 2006 via Solitude Records. In the doom metal scene almost everything has been played before, so don't expect from Tales Of Dark to open new pathways of expression in this musical field, but do expect intense and heart-felt music flowing from the artist's heart straight to the listener's in the most beautiful and melancholic way.

As i said above, Tales Of Dark are not one of the most original bands around, some of the references i noticed have to be My Dying Bride in the first place, especialy in the clean vocal factor, the singer sounds almost exactly like Aaron, mourning the loss of hope behind a microphone, and some guitar and keyboard melodies of course, in the way the masters of the UK doom metal scene paved their own and unique sound. Something someone may notice as well have to be a Draconian sense at times, especially when the music slows down, either with grunting male or ethereal female vocals enchanting even more the overall atmosphere. A more dramatic element when female and male vocals blend together is somehow Theatre Of Tragedy (of the first era, "Theatre Of Tragedy" - "Velvet Darkness They Fear") oriented, but as an atmosphere/feeling rather than song structure.

The overall aesthetic of the album is majestic/bombastic, intensity blossoms through every soundscape Tales Of Dark explore through their compositions and whether they sound dramatic, ominous, grieving or more powerful they never fail to express this feeling in a really good way. The guitar work varies from slow and bereaving riffing to menacing and asphyxiating outbursts that devastate all calmness, whereas the rhythm section is always present in order to lend the ideal groove to the compositions and hold them tight. The keyboard passages are always present, adorning with tears and threnodies or horror and dismay the dreamy nightmares of Tales Of Dark. And then come the vocals, highly expressive interpretation from both the female and the male vocalists, with the first singing in an ethereal manner like a siren weaving song and the second one grunting in woe or interpreting with his clean vocals, darkening the horizon.

All in all, "Fragile Monuments" is a very interesting debut album and i believe the band can achieve more and with a more personal sound in the near future, as for now, they deserve your support since they know how to offer some good melodic doom/death metal and the living proof of this have to be the majestic grandeur of "Via Descendens" and the devout and weeping "Mephistorium" with the variety of emotions and tempos. --- DerRozzengarten, metalstorm.net

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