‘The Origins Of Misery’ may have been languishing in label limbo since 1997, but in doom time, seven years, as appropriate a period as it may be, is but a mere drop in the ocean. May their suffering be eternal….
Lamented Souls are something of a supergroup, featuring Dimmu Borgir’s Simen Hestnaes on vocal, OJ of both Cadaver and Dødheimsgard, and Beyond Dawn sticksman/Terrorizer scribe Einar Sjursø. And yet rather than bring too many cards to the table, ‘…Misery’ has carved out a singular, solid space of its own. It may have siphoned off some of Candlemass’ reinforced pomp, but even if Hestnaes could match Messiah Marcolin in the vocal power stakes, rather than play the role of solemn overseer, there’s a devotional defiance to his anthemic howls that pits Lamented Souls at a compelling midway point between sturdy and cast adrift, like the echo of a last stand.
But it’s just this kind of contrast that infuses the album throughout, adding an element of drama that few of their peers ever countenance. The weighted, psychedelic riffs rarely get the opportunity to sound fully resigned, not out of any lack of nerve, but because they’re engaged there’s a constant interplay, forever surging up in Hestnaes’ wake and forcing themselves down again, and the result is some of the most memorable tunes to have come out of the doom camp in many a moon. ‘Suffer Salvation’ is a perfect description, and ‘The Origins Of Misery’ is a haunting illustration of how the mighty rise and fall.
8/10 - JONATHAN SELZER – Terrorizer Magazine

In the mid-90's a few lucky tastemakers had in their possession a 4 track demo tape housed in an unassuming cover from a Norwegian act called Lamented Souls. Whenever I unearthed the tape, I would listen to it religiously for a period of time before casually misplacing it, forgetting about it until the next time it revealed itself again, much to my relief. Everytime I found it again, it was like finding cash down the back of the sofa, surprise, happiness and smugness all at once. The Lamented Souls 1995 demo was worth far more to me than anything I might find under the cushions though. I worshipped its flighty doominess, the stellar vocals driving it along, and overall I loved the fact that it sounded like nothing else I was hearing at the time, especially from black-hearted Norway.

Instead here was a band who were epic in the vein of Solitude Aeturnus, slightly trippy and often snails pace, lumbering along with an echoed, mournful vocal accompaniment sung partly in Norwegian adding more mysticism to their sound in the process. Without fully understanding what they were all about, I just knew they were different. Lamented Souls brand of haunting, dreamy doom sat for me in the same sphere as early spiritual Anathema and the beleaguered down-trodden realm of Revelation, but somehow they rocked through the gloom. It was an odd feeling to feel uplifted by the gloom, something that only St Vitus had truly managed before.

None of this helps to describe adequately Lamented Souls sound. Post-depression doom? Warm and comforting sombreness? The friendly face of morbidity? Don't worry, I won't go on.... Confusing is the best way to describe the band. Apart from a real talent in creating a curious doom offshoot, the band boasted the gargantuan vocal talents of Simen Hestnaes, the man whose silken throat graced Borknagar's flamboyant 'The Archaic Course' and who lifted Dimmu Borgir from the ranks of the mediocre to something far more engaging. Hestnaes high-powered honeydrenched vocals powered the band through 'Eternal Existence' and 'Nemesis' with spine tingling precision, the off/on key unpredictability of his performance betraying genuine abandon.

That 1995 demo is represented on 'The Origins of Misery' which serves as a compilation of the cult sounds the band produced. Additional recordings are included, most interestingly tracks from an album recording in 1997, shelved until now, which features more varied material including a distinctly Metal sounding 'Demon Baby' and a psychedelic 'Traces of You.' The re-recorded and fucked-with version of 'Sprukken Maske' feels warmer than the original, but its the downbeat '95 version of 'Var' that should reduce you to your unworthy knees, as an example of doom soul searching at its finest.
Dan Tobin / Wicked World

Lamented Souls perform hymns of melancholies and hopelessness with a gleeful creativity that reminds me of the delinquents in Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass and St. Vitus – all of whom took their initial cue from ‘the forefathers of heavy metal’ as well as ‘the forefather of doom’... Black Sabbath. Failing to producing a ‘proper’ album on time, Lamented Souls have finally issued this ballistic bag of demo recordings from 1993 – 1997 on drummer Einar Sjursø’s own label, Duplicate Records. A few of the tracks are featured twice on this monument, but in different entities.

Discussion about this unit and its semi-famous members [Simen Hestnæs, O.J. Noir, Einar Sjursø, Olav Knutsen] has been a permanent benchmark on the www for a couple of years, with a mp3 of “The Essence of Wounds” as the only proof of their existence.

This must be categorized as traditional doom in every of its facets... the guitar gyrates through titanic variations of monolithic themes and plodding beats, whereas vocalist Simen Hestnæs adds the desired backbone by courtesy of his lamenting moaning [oftentimes distorted by assorted effects, whuch supplies the soundscape with an authentic ‘70s feel]. Several tracks are effectuated with an underpinning of ethereal synthsizers or lush flute performances.

The stylistic excursions into this distinct musical expression hardly brings anything new or groundbreaking moments to the genre, and the record presumably arrives 10 years too late on the scene to accumulate the deserved effect, but the music certainly bludgeons yours truly in an almost hallucinatory fashion. I’ve never liked the catchphrase ‘catchy’ when speaking about music [or anything else], but I assume, it is a synonym for ‘memorable in a positive and delicate manner’, and most tracks on The Origins of Misery definitely deserve such a description. This is a mandatory priority item on the shopping card for doom enthusiasts.
4/6 – Lolk / metal-reference.com

Fra det lille Oslo-baserte selskapet Duplicate Records har vi hittil fått
servert tre 7" med stor spennvidde; fra det ambient dronete Origami
Galaktika til ekstrem-core i regi av Bomberos, og singelen Essence Of Wounds fra nettopp Lamented Souls. Bandet har i mange år vært en skjult skatt innen norsk metall, og består av medlemmer med lang fartstid i en rekke andre og mer kjente band; blant annet Dimmu Borgir, DHG, Cadaver og Beyond Dawn.

Men navn alene gjør ingen skive god, og heldigvis har Lamented Souls så mye
mer å fare med enn bare det. De 14 låtene inneholder en rekke eldre
innspillinger, fra 1993 til 1997, og etter flere års ventetid kan man nå
altså nyte hele spekteret av disse guttas dystre klassikere uten å måtte
fikle med kassett- og plate-spillere hvert 10. minutt. Lamented Souls heller delvis mot den rock´n roll-orienterte delen av genren (St. Vitus, Trouble, Pentagram) og delvis mot den episke doom metall´en (Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus). Og som et resultat av dette er skiva behagelig varierende, i alle fall satt opp mot de fleste andre utgivelsene innen genren.

Det som skiller Lamented Souls fra mange andre metall-band i dag er ­
foruten Simen´s tidvise geniale og ganske særegne stemme ­ den intense
entusiasmen og spillegleden som så tydelig skinner gjennom. Gutta spiller
ikke i Lamented Souls for å tjene bøttevis med spenn, men fordi de har en
genuin interesse for genren... en musikalsk forankring og kulturarv de
ønsker å bringe med seg inn i dagens metall-scene. Jeg bare håper at den
neste skiva deres ikke tar på langt nær like lang tid å lage som denne, og
at massene omsider trykker Lamented Souls til sine bryst!
Erik Sontum - Utelivsguiden

Lamented Souls har holdt det gående siden tidlig på 90-tallet, men først nå har de kommet med sin første full-lengder. Jeg har alltid vært en stor fan av clean vokalen til Simen Hestnæs (Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar osv) så da denne skiva plumpet ned i postkassen min må jeg si jeg ble veldig spent.

Det er ikke bare Simen Hestnæs som er med på denne skiva. Andre mer eller mindre kjente figurer fra det norske metallmiljøet bidrar også sterkt. Apollyon, Olav Knutsen og Einar Sjursø spiller også en stor rolle. Sistnevnte er også for øvrig ansvarlig for utgivelsen på selskapet sitt, Duplicate Records.

Skiva kommer i flere bolker. De første sju sporene er skiva som ble spilt inn i 1997 men som aldri ble helt ferdiggjort. Så følger en demo fra 1995 og et par ekstra rariteter. Noen av låtene går igjen flere ganger fra de forskjellige tidsperiodene, men det er jo greit å høre de i forskjellige produksjonsdrakt.

Det Lamented Souls disker opp med på The Origins of Misery er veldig stemningsskapende nærmest hypnotisk doom-rock/metal der vokalen gjør mye av utslaget for resultatet. Skiva skifter mellom doom-rock/metal låter til det som kan beskrives som en form for melankolske ballader. Så her er det bare å sette anlegget på fullt, lene seg tilbake å synke ned i sofaen mens Lamented Souls forfører deg.

Ikke alle sporene på denne skiva er like gode. Simen er god på cleanvokal, men noen steder høres det ikke helt bra ut. En låt som går igjen to ganger fra forskjellige sessions på denne skiva, Sprukken Maske, låter ikke helt bra ut i mine ører. Vokalen gjør noen voldsomme krumspring som ikke låter godt uansett hvor mange ganger jeg prøver å forstå hva han prøver på. På denne utgivelsen er det ikke den prektige og majestetiske vokalen til Simen som gjelder, men en mer forseggjort og ”vanlig” stemmeprakt som av og til er forvrengt av vokaleffekter. Og det funker for det meste veldig bra.

Skaperen av Nemi, Lise Myhre, har også bidratt på The Origins of Misery. Ikke på noe visuelt vis som man kanskje kunne tro, men hun har skrevet teksten til Suffer Salvation.

Det er flere kandidater til ”beste spor” på denne skiva. De som stiller sterkest er Essence of Wounds, Var, Nemesis, Hybris og Eternal Existence som alle er fengende og ekstremt gode låter.
Einar Haugen - Heavymetal.no

Fucking doom. I hate doom. At least, I think I hate doom. I'm not sure, I might really like doom. I can't tell. Doom is a genre that encompasses too much. From Cathedral, to Anathema, to Khanate - it's all doom. I used to completely stay away from all doom because I thought it was only for people who wore frilly black clothing. Luckily, those days have passed, as otherwise I would've never been able to give this album a chance.
Lamented Souls, as you could probably predict from the previous passage, play doom. The same type of doom as Saint Vitus - epic Black Sabbath-inspired doom. But this isn't just any normal group of degenerates - this is actually a supergroup of sorts featuring members of Inferno, Beyond Dawn, Dimmu Borgir, and Cadaver. Naturally, your hopes are probably going to be set a little too high, but luckily enough, Lamented Souls don't disappoint too much.

The Origins of Misery isn't their first album technically. The members' obligations in their other bands have prevented them from making steady progress, so to hold people over, they've released this album from 1997 and a few tracks from their 1995 demo. A few of the tracks actually repeat, only sounding slightly different, which really interrupts the general continuity. I wish they would've just released the album itself instead of tacking on the demo - although the last track, a well-arranged instrumental called "Soulstorm" has a really classic 70's sound that fucking murders life.

Sounding similar to Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus, Simen Hestnaes (Arcturus, Borknagar, Dimmu Borgir) handles the vocal duties as over-dramatic and as awesome as possible. I'm sure that there'll be plenty of people turned off by how he's completely ridiculous he is in his delivery, but really, I can't imagine anything more fitting. He's certainly incorporated well into the music itself with a variety of vocal-effects that will unavoidably remind you of his work on La Masquerade Infernale. The Origins of Misery is a wet dream for those of you who've always felt his soaring, over-the-top, operatic style was the highlight of Borknagar and Arcturus. It really has to be heard to be believed, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

The rest of the music is straight-forward doom. No real twists or turns. Heavy mid-paced sluggish riffs, wailing melodic guitar solos with plenty of wah, the drums crashing in and out - everything's done the right way. They've got a Black Sabbath delivery at times, with real thick bass grooves and bending riffs that Iommi could even get a bit envious of - but honestly, probably wouldn't. The production provides a real bellowing sound which is absolutely essential to doom. My only complaint would be this obnoxious phasing noise they put at the beginning of "Traces of Doom", which quickly dissipates once the vocals come in. The mood phases from almost-upbeat to downright depressing, like on the powerfully somber track "Var".

I'm always disappointed by supergroups - it's too easy to believe that taking a member from one amazing band and combining it with a member of another amazing band is a sure formula for success. Lamented Souls shouldn't be thought of as a supergroup, but instead, should just be considered a group of guys who function effectively as a unit. Unfortunately enough, a few of the minor flaws of this album are obviously the result of the rushed feeling of some of the material and recording process. The Origins of Misery is unquestionably a good listen and if these guys find the time to record a proper album, they could potentially create a modern classic.
Drew Ailes / metalreview.com

Det norska allstar-bandet Lamented souls består av ett gäng minst sagt erfarna och respektingivande musiker som på grund av sina huvudband inte haft tillräckligt med tid över till detta band. Nu har de dock tagit sig själva i kragen och lyckats pressa in en tidslucka i sina annars fullspäckade scheman. Bandet som bildades i början på 90-talet av Olav Knutsen (Infernö) och O.J. ”Apollyon” Moe (Cadaver, Aura noir, Dodheimsgard) med målet att skriva så tung musik som möjligt lyckades ganska snart få med sig Simen Hestnaes på sång, som de flesta idag känner igen som den skönsjungande basisten ”Vortex” från Dimmu borgir. Einar Sjurso (Beyond dawn, Infernö, Virus) togs in på trummor, och banduppställning var därmed komplett. Det vi får ta del utav här är inte något nytt material, utan istället fjorton spår skrivna mellan åren 93 och 97. Blytung doom metal med operettlik sång av Simen Hestnaes är det som når mina öron, och ja, det låter inledningsvis mycket lovande. Det finns dock två saker som talar emot detta band, varav det första handlar om ljudet. Produktionen på vissa spår känns nämligen rätt demobands-bullrig, och skulle helt klart ha behövts mixats om. Det andra handlar om låtmaterialet, som efter ungefär halva skivan börjar kännas på tok för enformigt och stagnerande. Plockar man bort dessa två punkter, som förvisso är ganska viktiga, så är det mesta frid och fröjd faktiskt. Sången är superb, instrumenthanterandet likaså, och låtarna har trots en otrolig tyngd ett bra driv.

Bandet ska tydligen ha en till skiva på gång med enkom nya låtar, så den ser jag definitivt fram emot, eftersom åtminstone ljudproblemet bör vara fixat till den. Är Candlemass eller Cathedral din kopp te, kolla då upp Lamented souls som kan sin svintunga heavy metal innantill.
7/10 – David Enoksson – metalheart.se

Histoire de situer le paysage, nous avons ici affaire à du gros calibre. "Origins of misery" est en fait l’enregistrement ayant abouti au tout premier album de Lamented Souls. Cet opus, finalisé en 1997, n’avait à l’origine pas vu le jour sous CD mais se voit aujourd’hui réédité en format numérique, agrémenté de bonus tracks efficaces : des titres obscurs tirés de leur démo de 1995, et de sessions datant de 1993 et 1996.
Lamented Souls est en fait une formation Doom de facture classique, menée par des membres de Cadaver, Virus, et dont les voix claires très affûtées sont accomplies par l’excellent et inspiré Simen Vortex Hestnaes (Dimmu Borgir). Ce dernier singe presque Dio et adopte aussi - mais à de rares reprises - des vibratos typés Jello Biaffra, ce qui constitue une petite surprise. Le Metal de Lamented Souls, très marqué par le style guitaristique de Toni Iommi (Black Sabbath), n’hésite jamais à épicer la lenteur de tempos : entendons par là simplement que le Doom n’est pas la seule finalité stylistique de Lamented Souls puisque, même s’il circonscrit l’écriture dans ses atmosphères : à l’instar du Sabbath, ce quatuor se révèle capable d’accélérations aux poussées héroïques frisant le Heavy, mais dans des teintes plus sombres que guerrières. Du début à la fin de l’enregistrement, le combo délivre ainsi un message dont les points de repère sépulcraux sont connus. Mais de ce terreau émerge une identité forte, dont les référents 70’s et 80’s se projettent vers une démarche Roots très pensée, et évacuant toute vulgarité.

A découvrir absolument pour tout fan de Doom, tant les mélodies se révèlent physiques, plus encore qu'austères.
70% - Emmanuel – obskure.com

Now this is interesting. This is older material from this great doom rock styled act out of Norway, recorded from 1993 - 1997, including an unreleased full-length, demos, and rarities. And check out this fucking lineup: Simen Hestnæs (Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, Arcturus), Olav Knutsen (Infernö), O.J. "Apollyon" Moe (Cadaver Inc., Aura Noir, Dødheimsgard), and Einar Sjursø (Beyond Dawn, Infernö, Virus). Talk about a fucking powerhouse! Their sound is basically heavy, classic doom with a lot of flat out rock in there, fronted by Hestnæs' unique vocals. You can definitely hear some Black Sabbath and some of their later spawn like Saint Vitus, but epic masterpieces like the slow and spacious "Var" even bring to mind a thinner and more rock based Paradise Lost on some level. The songs are fucking great as well. They border on being catchy at times, the vocal performance is awesome, the bass playing is amazing and rarely mirrors the guitars… very fucking nice. It's not generic either. Despite a few obvious influences or similarities this is far more creative than most any American band of this nature in the last several years. The vocals alone are different, but the writing tastefully combines straight 70's rock chord progressions and bluesy runs with some heavier, darker passages and some nice lead bursts, even breaking out some wah at times. The watery effects over the vocals in "Sprukken Maske" are terrible and really fucking irritating, but that's probably the only truly bad decision herein. I do think the vocals are mixed too loud as a whole, but other than that I love the recording. If I could change anything it would be to drop those vocals back a tad and thicken up the bass guitar. The guitar tone is perfect, the drums sound great, and the instruments are mixed together perfectly in my opinion. The demo sounds damn good as well, as listening straight through you can't even tell when the recording sessions change over (except for the 1993 track "Soulstorm", which is of course much rougher). The layout is fairly minimal, using a few black and white photos, a few tinted brown photos, a tracklist, recording information, and that's about it. No lyrics are included, just a brief caption that reads, "Seeking death but you were leaving withered roses far behind." Fans of this genre should absolutely love this. It sounds a lot different than I had anticipated but it's very refreshing. The entire disc is a bit long but the demo is very similar to the re-recordings, so it's not essential to sit through this in one take. I find it odd that the first three songs are the best herein, but the quality never really drops off, so… check this out.
7/10 – aversionline.com

Phantome sieht man nicht, noch hört man sie. Und dennoch ist das besondere an ihnen, dass sie den Legendenstatus, welchen andere mit jahrelanger Arbeit kaum erreichen können, binnen weniger Ankündigungen innehaben. Eibon muss man erwähnen; Mayhem gehören eigentlich dazu - immerhin brachten sie es in 20 Jahren auf beachtliche drei Alben und einen Backkatalog, der alles aufdeckte, was im Gewühl von Live-Aufnahmen und vermeintlichen anderen Devotionalien verwertbar anmutete. Und im Fall LAMENTED SOULS scheinen die beiden Begriffe ebenfalls durchaus gerechtfertigt: Phantom. Legende. Wie das auf der Zunge zergeht. Die Biographie spannt den Bogen folglich zurück in eine Zeit, als in Norwegen, wo diese Seelen hausen, Kirchen brannten. Damit hatten unsere Künstler indes wenig am Hut - oder zumindest nicht offensichtlich. Denn im Grunde sind LAMENTED SOULS ein Black-Metal-All-Star-Projekt ohne Black Metal. Wir schmeicheln der Zunge abermals: Simen Hestnæs (Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, Arcturus), Olav Knutsen (Infernö), Apollyon (Cadaver, Aura Noir, Dødheimsgard) und Einar Sjursø (Infernö, Virus, Beyond Dawn) - das klingt doch, hat im Veröffentlichungsreigen bisher jedoch eher keine Rolle gespielt. Weil nichts den Herren ferner läge, als bei allen Vorschusslorbeeren ob der erlauchten Vita oder dem investierten Herzblut ein halbgares Debüt vorzulegen. Und so ist "The Origins Of Misery" keinesfalls der Einstand im Business, sondern eine obskure Zusammenstellung dubioser Demo-, Single- und EP-Aufnahmen, die vermutlich ohnehin niemand vollständig im Regal stehen hat. Davon abgesehen macht diese Musik aber auch Sinn, weil sie den Nostalgienerv so wunderbar kitzelt: St. Vitus, Black Sabbath, Cathedral. Und wenn es moderner sein darf: Babylon Whores, The Black League. All diese Rock'n'Roll-Rabauken waten auf "The Origins Of Misery" durch den eigenen Sud aus Bier, ranzigem Schweiß und freilich genügend Tränen und Verzweiflung. Das liest sich konsequent und knorrig und klingt genau so. Zu beziehen, wo die Menschen mit einem Fuß lachend im Grabe tanzen oder via
(MT) 11 Punkte

Do you like doometal the way it was played in the old days? If yes, than stop reading and get the hell to the nearest recordshop to get yourself "The origins of misery" from Norwegian Lamented Souls, because this is an amazingly good album!
If you do want to read on, I at first shall introduce the band to you all. On vocals there is Simen Hestnaes, known from a.o. Dimmu Borgir and Borknagar. Furthermore there are O.J. Noir, known from Aura Noir, Cadaver (Inc) etc., Einar Sjursø from Infernö, Beyond Dawn etc. and Olav Knutsen from Infernö. As most of you know these are all very skilled musicians and with Lamented Souls they've got yet another world class band going on.
"The origins of misery" is actually not a complete new full-length album but instead it is a collection of everything Lamented Souls ever recorded. From their first demos up to their previously unreleased album (which supposed to be released by Hammerheart in 1999). Because the band didn't want to have all these recordings just laying around, they decided to release them all at once before starting to work on a new upcoming full-length album. So actually "The origins of misery" can be used as the introduction to Lamented Souls and also as a taster to the new album. Present are four different recordings from different time periods. 
The first 7 tracks date from the year 1997 with Simen on vocals, guitars and e-bow, Olav Knutsen on bass, O.J. Noir on guitars and Einar on drums. Musicwise Lamented Souls plays doommetal with influences from bands like Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, Cathedral, Candlemass, My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. But apart from that it also breathes a seventies rock atmosphere which makes this all the more intereseting. On top of that the outstanding and unique voice from Simen to give the album the finishing touch. Both "Essence of wounds" and "Sprukken maske" can also be found on a limited edition 7" EP, released by Duplicate Records in 2002. The next three tracks are from 1995 and are in the same vein as the forementioned tracks, though the over-all sound is a bit rougher. The line-up in that time period was Simen on vocals, guitars and bass, Olav Knutsen on guitars and bass and O.J. Noir on drums and backing vocals. Next up is a recording from 1996 (track 12 and 13) with the same line-up as in the year 1995. Also here the over-all sound is a bit rougher in comparison to the first seven tracks from the unreleased full-length. Eventhough both these tracks are also in the first part of this album, I have to conclude this recording makes them sound more 'doomy'. Really cool is the part where Simes playes the flute which sounds very original and suitable to this track. Great! As last there is a one-track instrumental recording from 1993 with Simen on drums, Peter Holm on bass, Olav Knutsen on guitars and O.J. Noir on guitars. One can hear already the potential which was there in 1993, eventhough this is the most roughest recording here. But when I say rough I don't mean bad sounding! Actually this one is more of a progressive seventies rock song than a metaltrack, but who cares about that. It's the music that counts, and it is really enjoyable great rock.
Eventhough "The origins of misery" is released in 2004, it still does belong to the essential classic albums in this musical genre. It includes all elements which a classic album needs to have. And on top of that; it even doesn't get boring after the fiftiest listening. About "the origins of misery" I can only say: VERY RECOMMENDABLE!!!!
Marcel - vampire-magazine.com

Jeg og Gnombob satt å stussa over norske doom-metalband her om dagen. Vi var innom f.eks Green Carnation, men Lamented Souls greide jeg av en eller annen grunn å glemme av. Jeg skammer meg nesten for det, for dette er blytung, blodhard, skikkelig massiv doom ! Seige rytmer, tung, treg bass og herlige treeege riff.

En grunn alene til å skaffe skive for mange, er vel at Simen Hæstnes fra Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar + får bruke sin stemme her, og det er for meg veldig positivt, fordi mannen har en nydelig stemme når han får utfolde seg. Følgeskrivet nevner at det er med medlemmer fraDimmu Borgir, Auro Noir, Beyond Dawn, Inferno, Virus, Bomberos, Cadaver etc. Det er vel lett å mistenke dette for å være mye av de samme medlemmene, hehe. Uansett så blir dette en slags liten undergrunns supergruppe.

Doomen disse folket spiller kan vel virke som en ganske velkommen nostalgitrip for ganske mange. Jeg skal ikke si at jeg er så dypt begravet i den gamle doomtypen, men hvis Black Sabbath og Candlemass nevnes, så er jo det en viss referanse. Mye heavy metal i det, til tider veldig groovy, og ganske fengende.

Nå er jo dette egentlig bare ei samling låter fra demoer og diverse. Lamented Souls ga jo faktisk ut sin første demo i 1993, men hvis du tar en titt på lista over band bandmedlemmene er med i, så er det jo rimelig å anta at de har vært ganske opptatte med en del andre greier også. Av den dunkle grunner har en full-lengder fra bandet latt seg vente på, men den skal altså være klar snart. The Origins of Misery fungerer fint som en introduksjon til bandet, og en slags ”mens vi venter..”. En del av låtene går igjen i ulike utgaver utover skiva, og noen av låtene kan framstå litt intetsigende for meg, men over det hele er dette ei solid skive.

Her har du den norske doomen din, Gnombob! Jeg ser fram til full-lengderen, men kan fortsatt kose meg med denne i lang tid framover. Tror den koster bare 100-lappen og – det er jo ikke så verst for ei skive med norsk, blytung, god doom ?
7/10 - Crenshaw / metal-norge.com

When I mention Simen Hestnaes (Arcturus, Borknagar and Dimmu Borgir) I doubt most of you will think of Doom-metal, much less classic Epic Doom-metal. The man with one of the most recognisable voices in the metal world has however joined forces with a team of talented musicians (Olav Knutsen of Infernö, O.J. Moe of, amongst others, Cadaver Inc. and Einar Sjursø most notably of Beyond Dawn fame) to do just that. 'The Origins of Misery' represents a collection of songs recorded between 1993 and 1997 and includes an unreleased full-length album, demos and a few rare tracks. Overall running time is just over the 61 minute mark.

The album opens with the exceptionally strong track 'Essence of Wounds' and this high level is continued throughout almost the entire length of the album. The well composed and executed music has traces ranging from Saint Vitus to Candlemass. The overall tempo is as it should be; a mix of slow bits and sluggish mid-tempo beats. This however does not diminish the fact that some songs simply rock. Lamented Souls isn't afraid to sometimes push the proverbial gas-peddle somewhat. The music stays true to the doom spirit however, without a doubt.

It's close to impossible to miss Simen's distinctive vocals (think of his work done for Arcurus, etc.). While the music is excellent on its own, they steal the show. In a way this is almost sad, because if you focus too much on the vocals you’re going to miss out on some great musical highlights throughout the entire album. More then anything his voice is the icing on this doomed cake.

Shamefully as the album progresses I do think its impact slowly starts to suffer. The first songs are clearly the stronger ones. Of course it does not help that at some point a few songs are repeated, but in a different version. When not paying attention this may cause you to quickly lose attention before the album is over.

To recap, Lamented Souls presents some absolutely great Doom, played by very talented and seasoned musicians. The combination of slow pounding, more epic doom with slightly more rocking Doom rock works out well for the band. The music has a slightly addictive feel to it, forcing you to listen to it over and over again to get your doom shot. The first three songs are for sure the strongest (third track 'var' is on the album twice), but the rest of the album is also of high quality. If you are into traditional doom of any style I am sure you will love this, and if you’re a fan of Simen's vocals from one of his other projects, but perhaps not big into traditional doom, this is a great way to get introduced if you ask me.
Aldo Quispel, doom-metal.com

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