From Fall to Winter Solstice

“From Fall to Winter Solstice” is the first and only release of Apoptosis from France until now. The band consists of three members and it was formed in 2007. Their first effort was released in full length album format that it contains seven tracks of about thirty two minutes in total. The music that Apoptosis play, seems to have more Heavy Metal elements, than Black, combining a warm melancholic atmosphere with many Heavy and Power elements and some Doom passages.

The tracks’ pace mainly is of mid and slow speed with a few fast passages. As I mentioned before the riffs are rhythmic, melodic Heavy Metal riff with various Power passages while the presence of Doom passages also intensify the atmosphere. The listener will also come across to some parts with disharmonic riffs and others with fast blasts which give a more “black” and dark hue to the band while what remains unchanged and characterizes the album is the melancholic atmosphere. So, the atmosphere which other times is ugly, heavy and dark and other times warm, sweet, bringing images of an autumn afternoon, but always it is distinguished by that intense and characteristic melancholy. The tracks’ structure is quite good, with variety in the riffing and changes in the tracks, the listener can listen to the album easily and pleasantly.

Regarding the instruments, the band shows that it has taken care of its performance a lot. The guitars, both in acoustic parts, deliver the feeling to the listener quite well, without mistakes and with accuracy while their sound is clean. The bass is clearly audible and it has quite interesting lines which fill the compositions nicely. The drums although they have quite interesting lines and very stable performance, their sound is shallow, lifeless and cut off from the rest of the instruments. The lyrics are harsh Black Metal vocals, quite monotonous and without having anything to offer to the compositions. The production is clean, highlighting slightly the bass in order to deliver that warm, melancholic sound that the band wants. The mix is moderate as, although every instrument can be heard clearly, the drums are isolated. The lyrics are contained in the cd and they are written in English. The writer speaks on behalf of the gods, like he was one of them, and he addresses to humans describing them their fall and their extinction.

In my opinion, the first full length album of Apoptosis is moderate. On one hand, the listener will come across some beautiful riffs, good performance of the instruments and quite good structure in the tracks. On the other hand though, in a few of the riffs the inspiration is absent and they don’t offer any feeling, any emotion to the listener at all. Moreover, the problem with the mix and the sound of the drums is quite annoying, while the monotonous vocals are somehow tiring for the listener. I wouldn’t suggest this album but only to the fans of melancholic sound.