Gentle Doom by Cruel Wonders
"This duo’s Eastern-tinged, at times “heavy” folk music offers a more cinematic take on what is generally a genre steeped in minimalism." - Invisible Oranges (US)
"A charismatic and intriguing listening experience, that open-minded music fans will be sure to appreciate." - Ave Noctum (UK)
"Some haunting, lovely melodies in these songs... There’s no good reason why a late nineteenth century Romantic poem should sound pleasing accompanied by modern guitar sounds, but it definitely does." - Diabolique Magazine (US)
"Sorrowful, deep, contemplative, melodic, and dark." - Bucketlist Music (Can)
"The psychological effect of their debut album blending doom riffs with Jewish folk and darkwave electronics reveals an ambition well fulfilled." - Fémforgács (Hun)
Tracklist
| 1. | Preface | 2:24 |
| 2. | The Fever Called Living | 4:06 |
| 3. | Gentle Doom | 5:31 |
| 4. | Sometimes A Lover | 3:53 |
| 5. | When Helen Lived | 3:58 |
| 6. | My Monastery | 6:21 |
| 7. | Walls Of Home | 5:28 |
| 8. | Hug The Chain | 5:43 |
| 9. | Cradle Song | 3:45 |
| 10. | Valse Des Fleurs | 6:49 |
| 11. | Vernal Autumn | 2:31 |
Credits
Tamar Singer - vocals, acoustic guitar
Vlad Shusterman - electric guitars, programming
Music written, arranged and performed by Cruel Wonders
Produced, mixed and mastered by Vlad Shusterman
Lyrics:
1 - from Liberty, by James Thomson
2 - For Annie, by E. A. Poe
3 - Shakespeare, sonnets 145, 20
4 - Servus - Reginae, by Alexander Blok, translated by Yevgeny Bonver
5 - When Helen Lived, by W. B. Yeats
6 - "My monastery, where I'm badly pining...", by Alexander Blok, translated by Yevgeny Bonver
7 - A Sonnet, by Nikolai Gumilev, translated by Yevgeny Bonver
8 - Could Love For Ever, by Lord George Byron
9 - A Cradle Song, by William Blake
10 - from "À celle qui est trop gaie" by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard
11 - "An autumn never seen..." by Anna Akhmatova, read by the author
Front art: Allan Clark, Ruth St. Denis as Radha, 1916
Band logo by Christophe Szpajdel
Band photo by Orly Eyal-Levy
Live photos by Goni Riskin
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Cruel Wonders is a joint neofolk/post-metal project of Tamar Singer (Zeresh) and Vlad Shusterman (Ghost Bike). Their music, weaving sorrowful vocals and sweeping guitars around Mideastern-tinged electronics, has been described as cinematic and haunting. They have shared stage with such heavyweights as ROME and Spiritual Front.