The risk with doom/pagan metal is boredom, It may sound superficial, it may even sound ridiculous but the simple fact is that if an album is not “deep” enough, or if it doesn’t have the proper balance between melodies, events and atmospheric instances it may fall into the category of boring.

This Russian band manages to stay firmly on that edge, it is boring from time to time, but just when you are ready to give up on them they come up with exciting melodies that increase the energy and get you away from the complete slumber doom can present.

With a totally predictable intro, with bird sounds and something that sounds like Bagpipes “Revelations of Renounced” begins on a very boring tune, slowly growing into a more exiting album as it progresses “Through Autumnal Rain” is the track that makes you listen to a third song even thou its 8 minutes maybe a little too much to stand, but still you hand on to it with the expectation of something a little bit more alive and persuasive, just to begin on the third track and start to acknowledge that the album maybe just melancholic tracks with nothing new to offer, but that’s when the band surprises you, introducing a vibrant, beautiful track like “Under the Fields of Ages” with the same bagpipes that you have been listening for the past three songs but this ones are energetic, they are strong and they have a point.

Amber Tears should empathize more the folk side of their character since this is the side that provides them that “edge” that makes you listen to more and more in spite of the… sorry to keep using the term, boring tracks. These guys are very good mixing folk elements and modern instruments, their guitars fall perfectly into place and they manage to blend with great precision the small electronic elements they add to the mix with the entire folk feeling.

Call of the Dreams is certainly the best track on the album, impossible to decipher for me since I don’t speak Russian… yes all the tracks are in Russian, and that just helps the hole pagan/folk experience.

This is a good enough album with outstanding moments and some very forgettable ones, like the first three songs, still it deserves your attention for the level of detail and the great management of the folk and modern elements.