Year: 2008 / 2025 (this version)
Label: Metal Race Records
Rating: 5,8 / 10
Once again, Metal Race performs in a rare genre for itself, releasing melodic Doom Death Metal. FATUM comes from Yekaterinburg; this band has been in existence since 1993, but has released only two albums. “Неприкаянный” is the second one. It was originally released in 2008 and was self-published. Metal Race offers a reissue with an updated design and remastered sound.
To tell you the truth, the latest promo pack from Metal Race failed to satisfy me. All three - AUTUMNAL DISCORD, and PROCESSOR, and FATUM. Then again, “Неприкаянный” is not a bad album. It has a good sound, smooth songs, a solid atmosphere. But it is simply outdated. Even such a conservative genre as Doom Metal took several big steps forward after metal regained popularity at the end of the first decade of the 2000s. And “Неприкаянный” stopped exactly at the point where doom was at the time of recording this album (in 2006). It's been a long time since I've been surprised that another new band from some country like Mexico is able to release a debut record with a sound deeper than the Pacific Ocean, richer arrangements, 80 minutes of material and outstanding artwork. In other words, modern Doom Metal (and metal in general) can still be boring, but it offers high-level professional material. “Неприкаянный” doesn't demonstrate such a level. This is a rather simple doom with one-dimensional arrangements, where there is nothing superfluous. Here's guitar number one, here's guitar number two, here's the bass, here's them drums. From time to time, there are keys and solos, and the vocalist sings and growls in different ways (most of his vocals are pretty unpleasant). However, all this is too strictly measured. The album has clear ambitions - it has a good studio sound and high-quality performance. But it lacks scale to become something big.
In such cases, the situation is often saved by beautiful songs. Unfortunately, that's the problem too. I don't want to use stronger terms, so I'll say that “Неприкаянный” seemed empty to me. Sincere lyrics about mental suffering are good, but no one will read or listen to them if the music doesn't match them. There are about a dozen outstanding segments on the album (mostly solos and highly dynamic "gothic" fragments), the rest of the material leaves you indifferent. I know that in 2008 I would have found this album very attractive. In 2025, I found it unnecessary. “Неприкаянный” has not stood the test of time, so today it can serve only as one of the documents of the Ural Doom Metal.
The Metal Race edition is printed on thickest glossy paper. The booklet contains all the lyrics (printed in stylish "handwritten" font) , photos of the band and thematic art. Everything is fine here and 100% fit, no doubt about that. Details on a video.
