Heavily rooted in the traditional Doom Metal-centered alignment, Athens-based Tèlma has consistently presented melancholic sounds with ceremonial atmospheres. They have been around for roughly eight years and are profoundly inspired by many names across the globe when it comes to musical influences – including Russia’s Scald, Finland’s Reverend Bizarre, and Chile’s Procession – though most listeners probably also can sense some Candlemass-esque hints of references in their sounds.  

On this recent album entitled Ανθρωποβόρος, which translates to “Man-Eater” in Greek and is out via Dying Victims Productions, their soundscapes – primarily adjacent to the one of Italian Doom influences – mostly revolve around slow-paced emotive vocals accompanied by melody inclined solos. They mostly write songs in Greek, which helps build a nuance of enigmatic cadence, inviting their listeners to get lost in translation in the most apocalyptic way.

Conceptually, this album narrates lyrical themes surrounding the discourse of existential dread, emancipatory values in mankind, internal wars, and misery caused by humans themselves in this civilization, which build a stronger consistency to their Doom Metal imagery.

On the musical side, they tend to present a broad, vibrant spectrum consisting of everything they are influenced by and everything they believe is a manifestation of their full potential, ranging from the convergence between traditional Doom and Heavy Metal riffs to the outstanding performance of baritone vocals, vibrato, and uncanny structures of Doom riffs. 

This album primarily aims to pay a well-thought homage towards the legacy of traditional Doom in a raw, honest, distinctive way with full-blown passion; and the way Tèlma chooses to incorporate non-English lyrics adds more nuance to make it more cryptic – emphasizes the testament of the power of sounds regardless of whether or not the listeners have access to the acquisition to the lyrics’ language; as if the band is telling us that it’s the intensity that matters in spite of all language barriers. 

Thus, despite being heavily influenced by classic Doom, this album doesn’t lose its originality by incorporating soul-deep, existentialist themes and writing songs in Greek. Overall, this debut is a promising stepping stone for their potential growth in the foreseeable future, especially surrounding the Doom Metal scene.

Buy the album here:
https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/man-eater

8 / 10
RALKA SKJERSETH
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