The Bleak Picture - Shades of Life

The Bleak Picture is a Finnish doom metal band who formed in 2021. Their latest album, “Shades of Life,” is their second full-length album; they have also released an EP. 

I didn't review it but I liked their previous album, “Meaningless,” quite a bit. How does this one compare? It's even better and exactly how a follow up sophomore album should be.

The band's sound is very melodic. It isn't a happy, bright melodic but instead a dismal, distraught collection of dismal soundscapes.

Finland knows how to pour on the melancholy but this album pushes that concept further. This album is cold as ice—listening to it could give even the warmest wind a deep chill.

I like how it's riff based with a lot of guitar but still has a lot of liminal spaces in between the melodies. This gives the album a heavy, dense feel while returning a distant, despondent sound.

There is nothing overly complicated here but doom doesn't need that. What it needs, especially this style, is layers and atmospheric elements of which this album has plenty of both. It's visceral at times but can be ghostly and ethereal as well.

“Plagued By Sorrow” is the first song and it makes a bold statement and sets up the tone for the rest of the album. A melancholic groove settles in early, bolstered by thick bass and solid drumming. Even at its most detached and despondent, the song remains dense and heavy—indicative of the album as a whole. The vocals are perfect—aggressive but overly so it overtakes the music. The chorus is very catchy as well, and that's a good thing to me.

“Code of Ethics,” is one of the, well, coldest songs on the album. It's icy grip is infectious, especially the drums which compliment the song well. The clean parts with the spoken word are fantastic, combining use of liminal spaces with a subtle energy that slowly brings the song around to a heavier style. 

My favorite song is easily “Circular Reflection.” It has an amazing atmospheric moodiness to it. It's introspective and deep, a dynamic playing field that shifts between smooth melodic tones and crunchy riffs and death growls. The chorus is towering, fitting right at home in the structure because it balances all elements of the song together. 

The album ends on the sorrow laced “City of Ghosts.” It's haunting as hell feels like pure emotional anguish. The Keys are fantastic but so are the spoken word pieces. It flows very well, each second that ticks by adding another dimension. By the end, it's a somber romp of death doom that ends the album in the only way it could.

The Bleak Picture's “Shades of Life,” has become an album I've been going back to a lot and it's already making me reconsider what my favorites of the year so far really are. Highly recommended. 

Rating: Excellent