Autumn - Cold Comfort (2011) - Depressedly floating to unspectacular boredom - 42% (14/08/12)

So this band is called Autumn, their latest release is entitled “Cold Comfort” and these two elements already tell you pretty much about the music you are going to witness on this album. The record is dominated by dark Gothic Metal riffs, mostly melancholic keyboard samples and the talented vocals of Marjan Welman. She makes me think a little bit of the Dutch Floor Jansen of After Forever and now ReVamp and has a charismatic and grounded voice that makes her stand out next to too many high pitched vocalists. Sometimes, she also reminds me of the late Sabine Dünser that was once the voice of Elis from Liechtenstein. As both After Forever and Elis don’t exist anymore, Autumn could maybe take their places one day but they are still far from getting some more attention with this repetitive release. The vocals are indeed quite chilling and warm which creates an interesting contrast with the rather cold, melancholic and sad atmosphere of the release but that’s where the problem is. Musically, this record is too limited and lacks of ideas.

The problem with this release is that it definitely lacks of variation. Differences between the different tracks are only minimal and no song truly stands out for anything special. After a couple of tracks, the recorded quickly gets redundant, especially from a musical point of view. Only the vocals are pretty well done while the rest sounds quite average and too laid back at many moments. The songs are overlong as is the album itself and lack of development. The longest songs are very hard to sit through. Only a couple of not slow but mid paced tracks can grip some needed attention as the bonus track “Changes For The Bitter” with its vivid riffs and keyboard samples that make me think of pipers. This track along side with “Retrospect” that has a beautifully warm chorus and the electronically influenced longing rocker “Black Stars” can be cited as highlights to my ears. “Naeon” is also passable and has some interesting keyboard melodies as well as some faster passages.

Many tracks just need too much time to kick off or show only a ridiculously tiny degree of progression such as the way tame “Alloy” to only cite one example among many others. The band always gets back to the same ideas and even the main melodies happen to sound quite similar. Only great vocals and three to four solid songs can’t save this release from my bitter final verdict.

I would only recommend this release for fans of atmospheric, depressive and slow paced female fronted Gothic Metal. The record has indeed some atmosphere for rainy autumn nights. The sad thing is that the musicians show sometimes that they are not that bad and especially the vocals have a great potential but the band stays way behind the possible and wastes a lot of talent. This album is just floating past me and even after many spins, nothing really remains but emptiness. You should still rather head for the gone idols of this band that are mentioned above.