Year: 2026
Label: Meuse Music Records
Funeral doom has always been one of those genres that are great on paper, but in practice the execution often leaves something to be desired. Truth be told, just about the only album that fully delivers on the promise of the genre is Finnish Thergothon’s genre-shaping Stream From The Heavens.
As far as I can see, most acts have one or more of the following rather significant issues. One, they don’t deliver on the heaviness. Two, the sound falls short of the music. Three, the atmosphere is lacking. Four, the minimalism of the genre is too much for the band.
So which pitfalls do Georgian Ennui fall into on Qroba, their fifth album?
Let’s go backwards. The quintet can handle the structural and compositional minimalism. True to the style, each note drags on for long, long times, and the drums provide less of rhythm than an intermittent signal on when to change the note. Ennui flesh out their compositions with slightly less languid musicianship, taking Qroba in a decidedly gothic death/doom direction here and there. Think My Dying Bride et al. A good example of this is second track Becoming Void, where the crawling pace of funeral doom mixes well with moments of gothic tragedy.
Considering the above, it’s no surprise Ennui also avoid pitfall number three, atmosphere. There’s an air of tragedy throughout Qroba, from the gothic death/doom elements to the serene synths heard here and there, layering sorrow upon the tungsten guitars.
However, to some extent, Qroba falls short on the second point. Whenever vocalist David Unsaved unleashes his deep, deep guttural growl, Ennui manage to sound crushingly heavy. However, during instrumental passages, it becomes painfully clear that the guitars alone don’t pack the sufficient punch to keep things as uncompromisingly heavy and doom-laden as funeral doom requires. Which is odd, considering the album was mixed and mastered by Esoteric’s Greg Chandler, who by all reason should know what this kind of music should sound like.
Ultimately though, Qroba definitely lands in the better part of funeral doom releases. It’s got enough sensibility to not just go for self-serving and, often, self-defeating sheer heaviness, but offsets it with aforementioned passages of doomy gothic tragedy, and the occasional speedier section. Well, speedier in context: Qroba never speeds up past a slow lurch, but compared to the really slow sections, that’s fast.
Each track is well past the ten minute mark, meaning Ennui take their time building up their heavy tragedies. Less surprisingly, funeral doom being funeral doom, few of the tracks stand out as compositions exactly. This ultra slow, heavy guitar part sounds surprisingly much like that other ultra slow, heavy guitar part. However, some of the tracks do have slight discerning features, such as the organ on Down To The Stars, which lends the track even a slight Thergothon, or why not early Skepticism style psychedelic bent. It’s not all the same stone gray mass.
So, whilst I would have liked for the sound to be a bit heavier and more uncompromising, I find Qroba to be a most enjoyable funeral doom album. The album is smart in the sense that it does not boneheadedly stick to puritanism, but incorporates a bit of melodic sensibilities from a neighbouring lurching pace genre. The end result is surprisingly engaging to listen to.
Only Death Is Real 