Artist......: Woods of Desolation
Album.......: Torn Beyond Reason
Year........: 2022

Genre.......: Black Metal
Label.......: Season of Mist Underground Activists
Cat.No......:

Source......: WEB (24bit)
Encoder.....: libFLAC
Quality.....: 1771kbps avg. / 48.0kHz / 2 channels

Playtime....: 00:38:00  (511.04MB)
R.date......: 2023-01-06
S.date......: 2022-09-09

Website.....: http://open.qobuz.com/album/n2uaqwnxao9xa

Disc 1 / 1

01. Torn Beyond Reason                                               6:23
02. Darker Days                                                      5:13
03. An Unbroken Moment                                               7:03
04. The Inevitable End                                               9:13
05. November                                                         2:48
06. Somehow                                                          7:20

Sad, melancholic and epic are the three main adjectives with what I'm able
to classify this Woods Of Desolation's ½Torn Beyond Reason╗. Impressive!

I found Woods Of Desolation a few months ago through YouTube and since then
I'm in love with this australian band. Equally, I also found Austere,
another australian group, that unfortunately have splitted up during May
2010 - even so, they have left two great albums in its legacy: "Withering
Illusions And Desolation" and "To Lay Like Old Ashes". However, Tim Yatras
(aka Sorrow in Austere) did not throw away his role in the arts of darkness
by joining forces with D., from Woods Of Desolation, and, as guest, Yatras
cooperated on drums and on vocals while D. was on guitars and on bass. From
this cooperation was created one of my 2011's favourite discs: "Torn Beyond
Reason".

This year of 2011 also marks the reissue of their first album, "Toward The
Depths" which was released in 2008, and in three years the level of
production and creativity increased a thousand times.

The album starts with the catchy, melodic and melancholic title-track,
followed by the "Darker Days" song. This track starts with an accoustic
intro, followed by a little electronic passage and about this point I could
see some risk to put such thing in a record like that, in other hand I
think it fits perfectly if they wanted to innovate, but I don't want to go
further into this subject, because it is an isolated case.

With "An Unbroken Moment" comes the epic, sad and boundless soundscapes.
Just beautiful! The blend between the lead guitar and the choirs is simple,
but undeniably chilling. This kind of picture continues in the next song,
"The Inevitable End", mainly expressed by the melodic guitar, but I felt
that the deepest feeling lies in the previous song.

After the instrumental track called "November" that could be used by any
band to leave the stage while the crowd is clapping their hands, erupts the
last, most epic and most emotive song of the entire "Torn Beyond Reason"
album: "Somehow...". The clean vocals are once again used (those type of
vocals can also be heard in the "Darker Days" track), but the studio work
for that matter was more refined on this song than on the other - the
voices are louder and more listenable. The whole song works as a farewell,
from the lyrics till the way it ends. The finishing part culminates with a
strong, heavy, fast and melancholic environment that can spread sadness and
a sense of nostalgia all over the room.

During the several times I listened to this melancholic and depressive
masterpiece I did not only find sadness and solitude, but also captured
some scent of hope that is fueled by the nostalgia ambience. The only
picture I can foresee from this album is someone sitting in the corner of a
room not crying about the unlucky and unfortunate life, but crying about
things he or she could have taken and did not and now that person is
consumed by a serene repentance.

Earlier, I said the level of production increased from previous works and
it is true because the sound is more polished than in other releases, but
not in an extreme manner, otherwise I fear the dark and gloomy essence
would be lost. In other way, the vocals are still heard from the bottom of
a well or from the edge of an abyss screaming for compassion and it is
simply moving and suffocant if you are really into the scene.

If you realised you lost something or someone important and want to be
surrounded by this black cloud of suffering, I advise you this Woods Of
Desolation's "Torn Beyond Reason". Even though, I keep warning you about
the scent of hope, however it only can be found by the stronger.

-Riff Magazine