Saturnus - Veronika Decides to Die

Saturnus are a Danish band, so I wonder if our ever graceful Princess Mary likes them?  Ok, who really cares what she thinks
she's a tart anyway ... hah, get it? Shit jokes aside we have a quality band on our hands and one which, at face value, 
never really interested me, but as we should all be intelligent enough to know - you can't judge a book by it's cover. True
to this cliche, Saturnus' "Veronika Decides to Die" is worth a good few listens.

Let me start by saying it is an enjoyable and fairly straight forward album to listen to.  Unlike other doom metal such as
Mournful Congregation, Skepticism and so forth, it doesn't take a number of listens to grasp or comprehend. This largely 
stems from the fact that it is melodic death/doom (vs. funeral doom), but there are a number of commanilities between the 
releases and everything is relative to what you are currently listening to (which for me has been those bands), so the 
comparison is valid if you have been following my recommendations of late.

Saturnus are heavily influenced by My Dying Bride, and at points you can hear a lot of "Turn Loose the Swans" in their music.
A mix of heavy death metal style vocals and spoken word passages, dark minimalistic interludes and subtle, beautiful bass 
lines create a reflective atmosphere. Slow, melancholic melodies resonate throughout and are very much reminiscent of 
Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" although in much less hypnotic way.

One thing I will say about this album is that it does deliver quite a diverse range of songs.  All obviously in a similar 
vain, but there is a real sense of individualism to each track. This for me has two implications - the album sounds less like
a single piece of art and more like a collection of short tales - sorrowful, sometimes painful stories of loss and
heartbreak. The second implication is that it doesn't necessarily require "doom compliant moods".  I don't listen to 
extensive amounts of doom, but typically if I do listen it, I need to be in particular mind frames (which vary day to day). 
Now, Whether these things are good or bad, you can decide as the answer won't be universal.

The things I think really stand out on the album include, the keyboarding / pianist which is entrancingly peaceful and 
really brings parts of songs, such as "I Long", together. The slower, darker songs, such as "I Long" and "Descending",as well
as the production and guitar tone, which are absolutely flawless. What I am not such a fan of at points are the heaving 
vocals and sometimes overly rhythmic sections of songs such as in "Pretend" and "Murky Waters". To me, they aren't something 
I look for in doom metal, but as I noted above, this is another diverse aspect of the album that will grab the attention of 
some, and cause others to lose interest.

Overall, I enjoy listening to "Veronika Decides to Die".  As I said, it's a fairly straightforward album to understand and is
quite listenable at first spin.  For those who have enjoyed the aforementioned bands / genre's, and enjoy quality 
musicianship played through crystal clear production, this is definitely a release to check out.

75%.

1.	I Long			
2.	Pretend				
3.	Descending		
4.	Rain Wash Me			
5.	All Alone		
6.	Embraced By Darkness		
7.	To The Dreams		
8.	Murky Waters		


http://www.saturnus.dk/