Shores of Null/Convocation - Latitudes of Sorrow

Both Convocation and Shores Of Null are two of the most exciting bands in the dark/doom/death scene.  I’ve reviewed albums from both bands in the past, both as a writer when I worked for Metal Temple and on this very blog.  So, imagine my excitement for another slab of doom and gloom when this album hit my inbox!

This split album, “Latitudes of Sorrow,” features both bands upping their game and diving further into their sounds–while expanding it as well.  The first three songs are from Shores of Null and Convocation provides the final two.  This is a hefty release—it’s nearly 38 minutes of music. 

Although my excitement was warranted, I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly.  While both bands definitely embrace various forms of doom and extremity, they don’t sound similar.  Shores of Null’s brand of despair is loading in melody and melancholic textures among a Gothic foundation while Convocation’s doom is cold and unnerving yet still allowing for atmosphere.  I don’t find either style better than the other—both work for their respective bands. 

So how does this pairing succeed? I’ll be honest: each band has created some of the best music they ever have, and I would put the release as a whole against either band’s discography. It has been a few years since either of them released a new full-length but clearly their creative force is still flowing with ideas. 

The production/mix is about the same across the songs, which is great because it makes for a smooth flow and easy transition going from one band to the next.  Despite two different approaches to the genre, the songs all complement each other, and everything makes sense. 

The album opens with “An Easy Way,” and Shores Of Null drive right in with a very immediate beginning.  The song certainly feels right at home for the band, and for me, but I can sense the newfound purpose and energy echoing through the instruments and vocals.  In addition to a catchy chorus, the harmonies/melodies are also ear-grabbing, making this song a good choice for the split’s first song. 

By the time the next song, “The White Wound,” begins, it is obvious that SoN have taken their sound to the next level.  This song is darker and even more emotional than past music, with an incredible vocal performance from Davide. The rest of the band wrap my ears with gripping melancholic heaviness, that ebbs and flows through the structure, always finding a stellar balance between ferocious moments and more introspective ones.   Blackened speed finds its place among the slower moments, and the song even introduces a beautifully tragic passage after the 3-minute mark that mixes massive riffs with clean tones. 

Their final song, “The Year Without Summer,” is easily one of the best songs they have done so far.  The beginning is epic as hell, a drifting cloud of melodic tendencies overcasting over a deep foundation of drums/bass.  The clean vocals lay like a wreath over the music, gentle yet powerful at the same time.  The deep death growls are something else, as are the dark riffs that push them both to a massive climax that sees the band making a blistering run of bleak speed before settling back into an atmospheric ending. 

Convocation’s first song is “Abaddon’s Shadow,” and it’s basically a nearly 11-minute example of how to do extreme doom the right way.  The riffs hit hard but stay with you after the distortion fades away–like sinking to the bottom of the sea but continuing to be crushed by the pressure.  MN’s vocals are another instrument—one that speaks from some kind of void—hellish and unknown to anything but the depths of depravity.  

This is one of their most intense songs too.  From about the 5-minute mark to around the 8-and-a-half-minute mark, the band leans into their death side very heavily to offer a visceral performance.  It’s riff based with a lot of harrowing screams but open enough for the bass and drums to work their own dark magic. 

“Empty Room,” builds up nicely, before the minute mark has passed it feels like some ghastly foreign object building up within my ears.  As it reaches the height of callousness, the band drops the distortion in exchange for a clean passage.  The use of liminal space is great here and these clean instruments are just as heavy as the death/doom that arrives soon afterwards.  

This song is a lumbering juggernaut at times, pushed ever forward by smartly played drums.  As always, Convocation’s use of melody is always engaging, and it has never been more so in this song.  The vocals deconstruct the atmosphere, and the band is at their best when these subtle atmospheric elements come into mix with the funeral aspect of the band’s core sound.  

As if to deliver one final blow, the song reverts back to a cavernous maw, with the last two and a half minutes or so the song doing what the band does best:  unstoppable, unforgivable doom fucking metal. 

“Latitudes of Sorrow,” does exactly what it should do:  offer new music from its respective bands while allowing them to set the next stage of their darkly, primeval journeys.  

Rating: Excellent