Those who expected вЂњJourney into Mystery IIвЂќ were left pulled back, though, as this recording was primarily focused on the doom idea, the sludgy more abrasive production siding it with more readily with the Penance debut and the mentioned вЂњOde to SorrowвЂќ demo.ДЄ step closer to both the journey and the mystery is the album reviewed here, an angrier more intimidating recording, and although it doesn't quite reach the murky Lovecraftian depths of the mythical first showing, itвЂ™s a perfectly acceptable fare which rushes to usher the cavernous but dynamic Celtic Frost-esque thrashisms of old with the title-track, a tenebrous echo from times easily recalled, be it with a staple crusty doom stretch (вЂњExpendable Blood FlowвЂќ) right after.

Yes, when you dream about death, immortality is always an armвЂ™s stretch away, and вЂњSomnium ExcessumвЂќ hit the stores with a reverberating thump two years later. It was a year later or so when I finally unravelled the mystery, and also the journey, by discovering that the Penance lads were initially called Dream Death, and that their more aggressive and more dynamic initially scare tactics had taken a turn for the seismic and the thunderous shortly after this first journey, a handsome illustration of this transformation being the vintage doomy вЂњOde to SorrowвЂќ demo.ДЄs Penance the guys rose to the very upper echelons of the doom metal roster through the-90вЂ™s and early-00вЂ™s, even finding shelter in none other than Century Media Records for the recording of the mentioned вЂњParallel CornersвЂќ, trying different things along the way (the light-hearted stoner gimmicks on вЂњProving GroundвЂќ the psychedelic progressivisms on вЂњSpiritualnaturalвЂќ), but always remaining squarely within the doom metal realmвЂ¦ until the re-emergence of the Dream Death camp in 2011.

Nope, that wasnвЂ™t Penance, and regardless of how much the guy swore that this was the first Penance album, recorded in the late-80вЂ™s, I couldnвЂ™t help but take his narrative with a healthy pinch of salt. He had also labelled said side as вЂњPenanceвЂќ, too, but these intimidating brooding thrashy/doomy/proto-deathy sounds, served with a hefty sniff of the Swiss masters Celtic Frost, were a fairly distant departure no parallels, no corners to share with the other two opuses, not to mention the curt but plain threatening deathy tirades that served as the vocal accompaniment. As I loved this trad-doom masterpiece to bits, I went the extra mile to track down the bandвЂ™s first instalment, and the guy who gave it to me had recorded вЂњJourney into MysteryвЂќ on the other side of the cassette. I found out about this band in 1994 after I got a hold of PenanceвЂ™s вЂњParallel CornersвЂќ.

Death dream metallum