{"id":469204,"date":"2025-10-02T19:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T19:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469204\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T19:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T19:34:15","slug":"hooded-menace-lachrymose-monuments-of-obscuration-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469204\/","title":{"rendered":"Hooded Menace – Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I\u2019ve been hot and cold on Finnish doom-death act Hooded Menace<\/strong> over the years. I enjoyed the heavy, ugly sound of their early albums, but as they slowly progressed into more melodic realms, I felt they lost a bit of their primal sting. I enjoyed albums like Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed and 2021s The Tritonus Bell and respected their reset into more jaunty, trad metal melo-doom soundscapes, but it just felt like something was missing. That brings us to their latest release, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration. They\u2019re still moving in the melo-doom direction, and what you get is a wild mish-mash of 80s trad metal, Peaceville-esque Goth doom, and hard rock. It\u2019s ambitious and skillfully executed, but it\u2019s not without bumps and thumps along the way.<\/p>\n

After a throwaway intro, Hooded Menace<\/strong> clubs you like an Easter seal with the 7-plus minute riff-o-thon \u201cPale Masquerade.\u201d You will detect flavor notes of Sentenced<\/strong>, Cemetery<\/strong>, and Cathedral<\/strong> as the terrible trio rocks hard and rides free with more riffs than you can process, all backed by grunting death roars. It\u2019s a wild trip as things twist from doomy passages to straight-up arena metal rocking and every stop in between. The transitions are smooth, and nothing feels duct-taped together as styles and genres ebb and flow. The problem is the length. At multiple times, I felt like another song had started, but nope, it was the same track meandering all over the map. It packs a lot into the 7 minutes, but it feels like too much. This is an issue across Lachrymose, despite a lot of cool moments in each song. \u201cPortrait Without a Face\u201d pays big homage to the Peaceville days of Goth doom with weepy cellos sighing alongside the heavy doom leads, and nods to Paradise Lost<\/strong> are impossible to ignore. Then, around the 3:40 mark, they dump all that in favor of hard-charging Black Royal<\/strong>-esque power chugs, and it\u2019s glorious. It still runs too long, though.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, \u201cDaughters of Lingering Pain\u201d is painfully Paradise Lost<\/strong> in the guitar piece, but the vocals skew to Cemetery<\/strong> classics like Godless Beauty and Black Vanity. This one in particular packs a wicked nostalgia punch that takes me back to the early \u201990s when Goth doom was new and shiny. \u201cLugubrious Dance\u201d also goes back to the band\u2019s early days of straight-up doom worship, and you get some massive riffs on what is the album\u2019s high point and the only track (save for the shocking cover version) that doesn\u2019t suffer for running over 7 minutes. Toward the end of the album, you\u2019re graced by \u201cSave a Prayer,\u201d which took me about 3 minutes to realize is a cover of the classic 80s hit by Duran Duran<\/strong>. Somehow it works very well beaten into a Goth doom style, and as much as it shames me to admit it, it\u2019s one of my favorite moments on the album. Closer \u201cInto Haunted Oblivion\u201d clocks in just shy of 10 minutes, and after an album of 7-minute epics, your ability to swallow another family-sized doom biscuit will be compromised. It\u2019s not a bad tune, and parts remind me again of my beloved Cemetery<\/strong>, and the Peaceville cellos float back in for added atmosphere. It ultimately just tottles on for too long, and by the 6th minute, I start losing my mental grip. At just under 47 minutes, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration feels considerably longer due to the bloatimus maximus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although I have issues with the overstuffed songs, I have only good things to say about Lasse Pyykk\u00f6\u2019s wild guitar work. He\u2019s an infernal riff machine, and his leads race across several genres. His launching pad is classic doom, but he\u2019s more than happy to shoehorn in scads of traditional\/classic metal influences as well as touches of arena rock. You can\u2019t listen to this guy\u2019s playing and not be impressed. I especially enjoy when his rocked out doom style approaches that of prime Cathedral<\/strong>. He\u2019s basically a metal history tour guide, and he knows how to make a riff stick in your head. Harri Kuokkanen\u2019s vocals are fairly one-note, but his rough death roars are effectively raw and grizzly. He does inject personality into the mix, though a few clean passages would be a boon. The template works well; it just needs a touch of restraint.<\/p>\n

Hooded Menace<\/strong> have talent to spare, and when they hit their groove, you will be rocked muchly. The songs on Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration vary from very good to merely good, with the lesser tracks held back by their sheer length. If you want to do the rocking melo-doom thing, the songs need to be pared down to rock song lengths, and Hooded Menace<\/strong> refuse to do that. To their credit, this is still almost a 3.5. There\u2019s a lot here to enjoy, but there\u2019s also a lot here. Mileage will vary accordingly.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> 3.0\/5.0
DR:<\/strong> 7 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kbps mp3
Label:<\/strong> Season of Mist<\/a>
Websites:<\/strong> hoodedmenace.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/hoodedmenaceofficial<\/a> | instagram.com\/hoodedmenaceofficial<\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> October 3rd, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:\n<\/p>\n