Lamentations - Passion Of Depression (2022) Hi-Res

Throughout the years, progressive death metal has not only continuously expanded its instrumental horizons, but also its capacity for channeling emotion. Sentiment is a vital part of the genre, honestly, and bands that lean into this and find ways to fold complex, personal narratives into their whirlwind instrumentals tend to weather the test of time favorably. That's where Lamentations succeeds: their sophomore album Passion of Depression is at times as ferocious and blindingly technical as anything else the greater genre of death metal has to offer these days, but more impressively manages to be sad. It feels authentically sorrowful, as well as joyous and regretful other times, through a combination of progressive, daring instrumentation and cathartic extreme metal. For all the praise worth heaping on its intricate sound, this core ability to feel open and exposed and transmit all that to the listener is perhaps Passion of Depression's greatest strength. Stream the whole album here before it releases this Friday.

Let's get back to the sound, though: everything from wobbling synthesizers to flutes adorns the moments of Passion of Depression, but it's all unified and deployed with tactical precision. Two separate guest keyboardists lend their talents to the record, and there's obvious classical chops here. Subtle flourishes, excellent dynamics, an air for underplaying rather than stealing the scene: like the rest of the band (and numerous other guest musicians), the keyboards here operate with self-evident skill. The band also incorporates a variety of vocal techniques, using clean vocals in softer sections like the midsection of "Shiver" with lots of subtle harmonization and brooding echoes. In these moments, surrounded by gentle hymns of regret, it's easy to forget that Lamentations are, actually, death metal as well. Fortunately, this disillusion never lasts too long, as each moment of poignant clarity must inevitably meet its demise through the hands of pulverizing riffs. When Passion of Depression wants to get heavy, it does so, keeping its synthesizers, violins, and more in the picture to spice up the destruction.

Each listen of Passion of Depression yields something new, a layer peeled from an intricate puzzle of clockwork guitars and organic misery. There's a clever complexity to this record that disguises its straightforward core: a passionate journey through the trials of life.