Published: January 30, 2014

Apart from Drudkh and the side projects associated with Drudkh, I don't actually know any bands from Ukraine. The doom metallers in Vin de Mia Trix mean to change that with "Once Hidden From Sight", their debut album. The band has existed since 2007, but they only released a demo and an EP before this album's release in late 2013. Clocking in at just over an hour in length, it's an ambitious debut showcasing the many different strengths that the band and its members possess, but also the weaknesses of a young band trying to find their place in today's world of doom metal.

Vin de Mia Trix play death/doom, or doom/death as some insist on calling the genre. The sound is quite reminiscent of some of the genre's heavyweights like Saturnus and Mourning Beloveth; melodic leads interspersed between crushing doom riffs, slowly pounding drums that delve into mid-tempo territory at times, and a vocalist competent in utilizing both his cavernous growled vocals as well as clean vocals occasionally when it fits the atmosphere. During the course of the album, Vin de Mia Trix impress on many occasions with great riffs and interesting compositions that at times hint at the psychedelic doomsters in Esoteric. It can be quite difficult to write an hour's worth of doom metal and keep it interesting all the way through, and Vin de Mia Trix have added a major ingredient to the album that makes it seem like a very varied effort: two piano interludes, "Là où le rêve et le jour s'effleurèrent" and "La persistència de la memòria", played by Alexander Vynogradoff who also performs bass, some guitar and backing vocals. The interludes are so long that it almost seems wrong to call them interludes.

Those two instrumental piano tracks are absolutely excellent and could easily stand on their own, but in the context of the album as a whole they don't really benefit the sound and feeling of the album; because the interludes are so long and so different (and I guess also because they're so good), it doesn't quite feel right going back into the regular tracks of the album. As for the rest of the record, songs like "The Sleep of Reason" and "A Study in Scarlet" are definitely good tracks, but there's an overall lack of consistency in the album. The great ideas, the melodies that stay in your head, they don't really come together in the end. This could partially be blamed on the production that feels quite thin at times, but it also has to be noted that something is missing in terms of songwriting.

I want to like this debut album from Ukraine's Vin de Mia Trix, but despite endless repeated listens it has never really hit me the way I thought it would. Specific parts of certain songs remind me of the combined potential that these guys have, but on "Once Hidden From Sight" there are many things that could potentially have turned out a lot better. However, it is clear that the potential is indeed there when listening to this debut album, so Vin de Mia Trix is at the very least a name to look out for in the future..