Published: June 27, 2015

Crawling from my speakers with a ponderous pace, the New Zealand/Australian band Orphans of Dusk is an amazing amalgamation of gothic doom in the vein of Type O Negative and Woods of Ypres, and death doom like old Katatonia and My Dying Bride.

This EP is a great snapshot of the band, with slow moving and ultimately beautiful sounding compositions. Taking listeners through only one real emotion, melancholy, with glimpses into pure depression and anger, the songs blend elements from the masters of doom and gloom into something original.

Chris G, the vocalist of the band, sings like Peter Steele at times, and outright sounds like him when he does a whispered spoken word section. Sometimes he sounds a bit like David Gold as well, which I enjoy because David Gold is one of my favourite singers. As far as instruments go, James Quested plays riffs that would make Norrman and Nyström happy, with bass lines and keys that would make fans of Peter Steele and Josh Silver happy. Drums were handled by a session player named Dan Nahum, and his work is wonderful. I hope he either becomes a full-time member of the band, or else is rehired for any future recordings. A great tone, and extremely complimentary to Quested’s music.

Unfortunately for me, this is just an EP. I hope Orphans of Dusk produce a full-length soon, because this little look at their sound is just not enough. Those who like Type O Negative‘s Bloody Kisses as well as The Green Album and Grey Skies and Electric Light from Woods of Ypres will definitely enjoy Revenant, while fans of the Peaceville Three will be quite delighted by the songs held herein.