Ophis - Withered Shades

Ophis - Withered Shades from 2010 is available on the Solitude Productions Bandcamp. When two of the best metal writers, one former and one very much active, have kind things to say about an album, I hope I am forgiven for simply hitting the quote button. First up is Kim Kelly, writing for Metal Army America:

An understanding of timing and tension is absolutely crucial on albums like this, and Ophis are clearly more than well-versed. In the instance, the almighty riff slowly, purposefully wends its way through the distortion and despair, augmented by tasteful, moody keyboard accents and an admirable commitment to ugliness. While so many death/doom bands have fallen victim to the lure of beauty, Ophis scorns it, gleefully embracing the filth (and bastardized Skepticism riffs) they’ve accumulated along the way. Simply put, this is some bleak, brutally depressing shit.

And here's Cosmo Lee, the former editor of Invsible Oranges:

This may sound strange for metal, which often traffics in the morbid, but this music respects death. It does not puke all over it with blastbeats and streams of notes- It does not glorify it with gore. Instead, it acknowledges it, then gets to work. We have metal tools, let us dig trenches. We have metal strings; let us make them sing. We have metal lives; let us show how trapped and suffering we can be. Yet let us rise above it all through the power of the riff.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]