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Diagnosed with a terminal lung disease, haunted by unspeakable
nightmares forcing him to revisit the blackest days of his life...
faced with his imminent demise, a dying man spends his last days on
earth coming to grips with his troubled past and attempting to
redeem himself. Burden of Grief takes us from the stifling
blackness of his room to the damp soil of the graveyard where the
dead sleep, and beyond... The 11th Hour is a new Dutch/Swedish Doom
Metal band from the minds of multiinstrumentalist Ed Warby (Gorefest,
Hail Of Bullets, Ayreon) and musical centipede Rogga Johansson (Edge
of Sanity, Demiurg, Paganizer, Ribspreader). Making a full-fledged
Doom Metal album is a-wishcome true for Ed, as it gives him a
perfect opportunity to worship unconditionally at the Altar of the
Riff. Although both Ed and Rogga are mostly known for their
considerable death metal prowess and have previously worked together
in the death metal juggernaut Demiurg, both love Doom Metal in all
its guises and embraced this opportunity with great enthusiasm. For
Ed this marks a double first: not only did he write all the song
material, he also plays every single instrument on the album, as
well as handling half the vocal duties. Rogga contributes the other
half in his renowned guttural style. The haunting lyrics are a
combined effort of both Ed and Rogga and eschew the expected gothic
fantasy-style in favor of a harshly realistic approach to the morbid
subject matter.
Burden of Grief is a six-track cycle of loss and regret, of death
and bereavement, and of doom and redemption, set to some of the
heaviest music imaginable. The 11th Hour is rooted firmly in the
Doom Metal tradition with an austere monolithic sound, rich string
and piano sections that illuminate the songs with a sense of
melancholy, while adding luster and variety to the musics bleak
atmosphere. Over the course of its 6 songs, Burden of Grief takes
the listener on an emotionally draining journey filled with memories
too painful to confront, truths too harsh to acknowledge, and grief
too deep to bear. Ed's mournfully melodic vocals represent the
protagonist's despair, while Rogga's inhuman growls roar with his
bitterness and determination to escape the fires of hell that he
fears await him. The album was blessed with a crushing mix by Ronnie
Björnström for Audio Enhanced Productions that manages to be heavy
and transparent at the same time, allowing the epic arrangements to
shine through as the story unfolds. Mick Koopman (Hail of Bullets,
Asphyx) supplied the beautiful artwork which is presented as the
protagonists handwritten journal.
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