(Funeral Doom Metal) Left In Torment - Saturnian Rites (Demo), Nebula Empire (Demo) - 2008-2014, MP3, 192 kbps

#7771. And They Speak to Me 14:04
2. In Sorrow I Rise 15:45
3. Altar to Eternity 20:40

#7771. Light and Transcendence 12:41
2. Deity of Void and Dust 11:27
3. The Beauty of a Dying Sun 04:06
4. Ancestors 11:32

Sometimes an impression forces itself upon the listener, while this person merely enjoys the music of a band. It appears out of a context whose origin has nothing to do with the album itself, but reflects the compositions and how they are perceived in a perfect way. In terms of Left in Torment's Saturnian Rites this would be the image of a very beautiful girl.
To someone who has not had the opportunity to listen to the music this comparison might be an absurd one, but to those familiar with the art, this reference might be seen as quite appropriate. A beautiful girl and this demo have a strong resemblance due to the way the species 'homo sapiens' tends to respond to very nice or attractive female characters. It is nice to be with them, have fun with them and one will always turn to them because the likeliness to have a good time is quite high. To use a quote from the movie Rear Window: She's like a queen bee with her pick of the drones.. So, generally speaking, it is easy to have some fun with a beautiful girl ... but ... there is often also a problem with them.
Even though they look good from the outside, once you want to start a conversation with them, the shallowness of their personality is revealed very soon. Discussion will therefore circle around topics everyone can talk about, every day’s nonsense, senseless gibberish and the like. Talks about this person, what X had done and why Y has changed so much... talks for which you do not have to use the brain.
Yes, this is what comes to the mind when listening to the first demo of Left in Torment and the two aforementioned aspects can be found in the band's art without any difficulty. The music is so inoffensive, so luring, so nice and friendly that it is impossible to not like it. Like a hug from a nice pretty girl it comes along with every further spin of the disk and tries to take the listener by the hand. This person can always return to this piece of music, simply because the same impression will repeat itself again and an 'inner satisfaction' will appear by magic.
Alas, beauty is not without its failures and hence does also this piece of music has its flaws and short-comings. It would be the shallowness of the whole idea to what one can point towards. All songs follow the same idea and each one is an interpretation of it. Beyond the atmosphere the band has nothing to offer. The riffs, repeated extensively, are nothing outstanding or could be described as something that might be seen as worthy to repeat on a larger scale. Vocals appear in a spoken like fashion or in some growls, but sound not as aggressive as they tend to in other bands. The keyboards work like a texture in the background as well as the giving the songs a melody; the focus lies rather on them. Overall, it might actually be possible to write a good deal of albums in a similar fashion and they might still fascinate. The approach is interesting, but it lacks of depth; it is simple as this.
This release can easily be enjoyed by fans of the funeral doom genre. Very atmospheric it is in style and the whole concept is as such as to fascinate right from the start. The listener is quickly drawn into the world of Left in Torment and might enjoy the stay. Colosseum from Finland might be a band to point towards when it comes to describe the music of this French band, but with less complexity in the compositions and with a larger emphasis on the keyboards.
I like this album and do not be confused by the score. Yet, I would not go so far and describe it as good and to praise it in one way or another. To me it is merely an approach that is interesting, but has yet to prove its potential and this could happen by making the songs more complex and to bring more ideas into it. Currently it is like a very beautiful girl, whose only fault it is that once she opens her mouth and try to start a discussion on serious topics, you want to turn to someone else. So, I do not ask question and just enjoy the time with her.

Nicolas Baudry All instruments, Vocals
See also: ex-Seelentod