The debut full-length from these Australian dark purveyors is both ambiguous and extraordinary. And they are "black" not because they play true black metal, but because their music is black in substance and emotion.
Everything converges in the sounds of "Sombre Romantic": sorrow and joy, despair and grief — the full spectrum of human emotions, yet all refracted through the dark prism of mourning.
"Sombre Romantic" is despair, fury, and pain embodied in music. This album has it all: gothic metal, symphonic black, atmospheric doom, and a sea of other elements. All these styles and directions are harmoniously interwoven into a majestic funeral tapestry — a musical shroud. This picture is realized through gorgeous orchestral arrangements, deeply sorrowful cello, profoundly emotional vocals (and indeed, a great variety of vocal styles), and a solo guitar that tears everything inside apart. No — it is the great and terrible Cannibals whose music rips flesh and pulverizes brains to mush; the music of VIRGIN BLACK tears at far more sensitive and spiritually elevated matter. After compositions like Weep for Me, Museum of Iscariot, A Poets Tears Of Porcelain... you simply want to dress all in black and join this funeral procession marching into infinity and the bottomless abyss of despair.
"Sombre Romantic" is a purely intellectual product and strictly an acquired taste.
It's hard to say whom to recommend it to: I, for instance, love death metal, and I enjoyed this album.
Some will be utterly devastated by this record, while others will remain untouched as it passes them by.