Like mercury, like liquid sands, like a turbulent sea, one could characterize the existence of the doom formation Clouds. On purpose I don't use the word band because line-up is spilling, disappearing, emerging and changing. Like liquid sands, like mercury. Only one remains. Wonderful music that beats the rhythm of the exposed heart on the palm of your hand. The album "Durere" presents again stories of deep sadness, knowledge of own mortality and fragility hidden deep within ourselves.
In a sense, Clouds are not really a musical group, Clouds are clouds of a single sky, represented by a single character. Daniel Neagoe is an absolutely unique artist in the doom metal field, a personality who is actually invisible to those who have not been initiated. A giant, a giant in the field of music, a person with perfect musical feeling, imagination, everything that I tend to admit openly. Daniel is a very undeground musician with an unknown face. Of course, it is not an international star of a large format. He only knows him whom Neagoe conquered, domesticated, handcuffed and enslaved with his work.
Daniel Neagoe is of course known only to a very narrow audience, his name is not only associated with the creation of Clouds, but also Aeonian Sorrow, Shape of Despair, Eye of Solitude, Pantheist, God Eat God, Colossus… in which he appeared, Daniel is connected with the history of the gloomy, melancholic metal so much that one wall of a funeral chapel, made up of funeral tones, wouldn't have stood at all if the charismatic Romanian hadn't been born. The above-average composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist does not know what peace is and goes from project to project. It flashes somewhere, stays longer somewhere, but it is always recognizable.
Clouds was born as a very vague project in 2013 and since then five long-playing albums have been released under their logo. All albums were created in a unifying funeral style with great melodic themes, graded by fantastic instrumentation. The band's line up changes in each change release . Clouds were sung by Faroese bard Jon Aldara, Finnish vocalist Mikko Kotamäki, Pim Blankenstein from Official Triste, Natalie Koskinen or iconic Gogo Melone. Equally variable were the collaborating instrumentalists.
The line-up for 2020 is again interesting and atypical. In addition to Daniel Neagoe, he includes Romanian bassist Alex Costin, drums are played by another Romanian Luca Breaz, violin is held by fragile Irina Movileanu, only a twenty-two-year-old Romanian musician, Mihai Mike Dinuta know mainly lovers of Danish Saturnus.
As can be seen, this time Neagoe has turned into a country of his own origin, the line-up is mostly Romanian, and must be added, great. Seven songs of the album “Durere” represent the peak of doom art. Especially thanks to masterful instrumentation.
A funeral doom can be a damn boring thing if its creators lack imagination. Or it can be so beautiful that it hurts deep in the chest. Such is the album "Durere". Sophistically beautiful, fragile, similar to a fleeting touch of a blade that almost painlessly opens deep wounds and lets a person bleed.
Lyrics are again lyrical and profound, even though the lyrics are classic, not deviating too much from the genre. They depict mental torment, anxiety, sadness, grief, solitude.
The Clouds style combines a strong, distinctive harsh vocal with pointed melodic passages that rise like waves high and far. Occasionally, the song intersects with recitatives, tinged with very subtle tones. This combination of caustic, harsh, dense grunts with almost intangible touches of tenderness makes Neagoe perfectly masterful. It can be sentimental, but it will never slip into kitsch, which is very difficult when using similar procedures. The album retains a very recognizable style in all respects, but is stronger than the previous one, I can't help it, "Durere" is more powerful. Thundering moments in which a heavy, dominant growl catches our brains and tears our skin back are really strong. Neagoe is at the pinnacle of creation and singing techniques.
In fact, “Durere” acts like classical music, as a modern opera. The opera resembles those vast areas of symphonic thunder, beautiful melodies and also the main character, the singer who is the heroic bass of today. "Durere" is a classic feat, a perfectly balanced, unified storyline, going from birth to extinction. The album is so riveting that it works conceptually, one song is inseparable from the other. It is a compact, coherent flow of black water that spurts toward the starless sky. In the field of doom metal, “Durere” is an unforgettable peak experience.
Released March 1, 2020
Credits
Emil Ciuperca : Guitars (track 3)
Andrei Oltean : Flute
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Romania
at D Studios by Daniel Neagoe
Bass recorded in Cluj, Romania at Xander Cozaciuc
Flutes recorded in Cluj, Romania by Andrei Oltean
Solo guitars recorded in London UK by Indee Rehal Sagoo
Solo guitar on Images And Memories recorded by Emil Ciuperca at D Studios
at D Studios by Daniel Neagoe
Bass recorded in Cluj, Romania at Xander Cozaciuc
Flutes recorded in Cluj, Romania by Andrei Oltean
Solo guitars recorded in London UK by Indee Rehal Sagoo
Solo guitar on Images And Memories recorded by Emil Ciuperca at D Studios
Formed in: 2013
Years active: 2013-Present
LINE UP
Daniel Neagoe - Vocals, Orchestration
Indee Rehal-Sagoo - Guitars
Mihai Dinuta - Guitars
Alex Costin - Bass
Luca Breaz - Drums
Irina Movileanu - Violin and additional female vocals
Genre: Atmospheric Doom Metal
Country of origin: International
Location: United Kingdom / Finland / Netherlands / Faroe Islands / Belgium
Current label: Domestic Genocide Records
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clouds.Visions
Bandcamp: https://cloudsofficial.bandcamp.com
Merch: http://doomclouds.bigcartel.com
