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Before reviewing “Trapped in a Sleep” I had never heard of this Ukrainian band - even less did I have an idea of what the music was like. It turns out I discovered a little jewel.

Sure enough the album is packed with stoner riffs so heavy they could sink an iceberg. Piano sounds and keyboard effects complement the music to generate a chilling atmosphere. Double-bass drumming continuously changes tempo with apparent ease and I can only speculate at how many skins the drummer bust with his hard hitting style. Brothers and sisters in Metal, “Trapped In A Sleep” is one of the best Doom Death albums I’ve heard in a long while, an album where the balance between rawness, sophistication and intense emotion sounds utterly convincing.

There are no fillers here so let’s take a few tracks at random…..‘Sisyphean Struggle’ starts off like a Dario Argento horror movie soundtrack before breaking forth in epic fashion. It took me some time to get used to the clean vocals in this song but after a while I found it hard to image them otherwise. ‘Earth Escape Plan’ has a distinct Black Sabbath feel to it and with its swift crescendos seems perfectly suited for live renditions. ‘Eternal Return’ is the album’s instrumental closer and I couldn’t help feeling it needed some vocals. A brilliant track nonetheless.

As far as comparisons go, I sensed common traits with early Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy, Cemetery Of Scream, early Forsaken, My Dying Bride, Anathema but especially Paradise Lost. In fact “Trapped In A Sleep” is a must-have for those who yearn for early Paradise Lost.

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