Kaamosmasennus – Le Jour Ne Se Lève Plus

Imagine a study project come to life. That’s exactly what happened here, as Kaamosmasennus is one-man-project founded in 2018 by French multi-instrumentalist Julien J. Neuville’s (Salaman Isku) academic research work on Finnish Funeral Doom Metal for his master’s thesis at the University of Caen-Normandie (France). According to the band, ‘Kaamosmasennus means’ ‘a seasonal disorder’ in Finnish.

Thus, what we have here on his digisleeve CD-debut entitled Le Jour Ne Se Lève Plus (translated to ‘The day no longer dawns’), are only four quite lengthy tracks, a journey into the dark Finnish winter. Now you probaby think, why would a French guy compose a music about the dark Finnish winter?! Well, following his thesis, he undertook a long winter trip to Finland, followed by a seasonal depression, which gives the project its name. The four tracks of the album blends elements of Funeral Doom Metal with Death, Black, Progressive and even Psychedelic influences. Furthermore, he adds some natural atmospheres, mainly created by some majestic keys.

The journey into melancholy begins with the opening track named “L’Esprit de l’Hiver” with this smooth intro and some soothing melody being revealed. Aforementioned majestic keyboards are paired with some heavy riffing, slow hypnotic rhythms and painful vocals, or should I call it a ghostly cries?! The whole atmosphere is rather intense and icy, and one definitely feels as if having both feet in the snow, walking alone in the misty twillight of a winter day in Finland. In contrast to all the other songs on the CD, the following instrumental track, “First Snow”, does not contain deep guttural vocals, but raher some spherical ambient sounds, folky keyboards and rough tremolo picking. While listening to this particular song, I felt that the sound has a slight Pagan or Viking touch. Next follows a self-titled “ Kaamosmasennus”, whose duration exceeds ten minutes contains some catchy melodies, icy atmospheres and melancholic moods. Obviously, this song is the most representative of the prject’ sound and overall nature. The closing song, a grand finale is called “La Symphonie Des Éléments” beginning with this Bathory-vibe while the musical offering is accompanied by naturally low vocals. Definately a nice way to end this journey into the Finnish winter.

Despite of its lengthy and repetitive nature, I found myself enjoying Le Jour Ne Se Lève Plus and its app. 40 minutes of music. Due to Julien’ research experience, Kaamosmasennus masters the codes of Finnish Funeral Doom, and Le Jour Ne Se Lève Plus is a good start into sadness, blackness and pessimism of Funeral Doom Metal. Esp. recommended for fans of Skepticism, Shape of Despair, Colosseum, Agaloch, Empyrium and even the aforementioned Bathory.

For additional info on this particular release visit https://bitumeprods.bandcamp.com/album/le-jour-ne-se-l-ve-plus