Solitary Impact is the newest release from this Lebanese sextet called Kimaera. Jean-Pierre (a French name) Haddad (vocals, guitars and keyboards) is the founder of the band. Their debut album came out in 2006, and was also released by Russian label, Stygian Crypt Productions.
Kimaera has two guitar players and an additional keyboard player; besides having on staff a violinist and female vocalist by the name of Milia Fares. They are described as an: atmospheric doom/ metal act. This description is pretty accurate, since the elements of these genres are all present in their music. Atmospheric keyboards are omnipresent, just as the violin parts are, not to mention the samplings (water, wind, thunder, rain etc…). The melodious vocals of Milia , the cleaner guitar works and the calmer parts account for the more melodic moments to be heard. The male counter parts are normally in the form of growls, although some rasps and occasional clean tones could also be present. Being of a doom/death nature, the paces are almost exclusively in the moderate range. The distorted riffs are well present, but they lack a bit of that crunch often connected with those metal genre. The drumming is also somewhat deficient in the pounding department. That gives the overall sound a certain dryness in the rhythmic zone. The musicianship is good, as well as the songwriting in general. I found the changes from one mood to another as being not always smooth, with a certain silence even at times. Nonetheless, Solitary Impact is full of solid compositions that will more than likely please the fans of those musical styles. Compositions like: " Bloody Tourniquet", "A Silent Surrender", "The Taste of Treason", and the closing instrumental, "The Garden Tomb", are prime examples of their songwriting and musician skills.
Solitary Impact has nice songs to offer to the more melodic oriented metal heads, but I was left wanting a crunchier and beefier sound production.
Track listing:
1- Bloody Tourniquet
2- A Breath of Despair
3- A Silent Surrender
4- Solitary Impact
5- Holy Grief
6- In the Shade of Nephilim
7- All that I Am
8- The Taste of Treason
9- Of Wine and Woe
10- The Garden Tomb
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