Fatum Elisum is a young band from France, from the city of Rouen to be more precise; a place where the guys from Ataraxie also live. You won’t escape a comparison as both bands proves to be Doom merchants of the same league.

The songs are really very long on this first album – the re-mastering of their first and only demo with new artwork. If the tracks’ length can alienate some listeners, one must grant Fatum Elisum an obvious talent to develop a creative and captivating songwriting: there’s a strong artistic potential in here and it requires some attention in order to fully grasp all the subtleties it is made of.

This is Death Doom allright, but far to be another My Dying Bride’s copycat, the Normans put forth something rather more extreme, closer to Ataraxie (for the overall atmosphere), Bethlehem (for the coldness) and Celtic Frost period ’Into The Pandemonium’ (for the ‘literary’ aspect – the song ‘Dancer Of Spirals’ even contains a passage of a poem by Francois Villon, while the general theme is overtly religious).

EndE displays a wide vocal range, which bears Marco Kehren’s imprint (Deinonychus). The guys have come to a particular deal with whatever Church authory and they manage to record all the vocal parts in an actual church! ( You can have a glance at some pictures of the session on their Myspace). How they did it, I have no clue, but the fact is it sounds huge! From weeping, the voice turns violent, always filled with an incredible fervor ... a religious kind of fervor, of course. The almost crystalline clarity of it, and its staggering scope, confirm that after the wonderful ’The Trinity Sessions’ from Canadian folk-rockers The Cowboy Junkies and the superb ’Domkirke’ recently released by SunnO))), a recording session in a religious building brings a lot of great atmospheres and some rare deep feelings into music.

Songs like ‘Fatum Elisum’ or ‘In Vain’ convey a myriad of details and call to meditation, introspection, invite you to think about what defines us as humans far beyond our sheer expectations as Metal fans... well...

Seldom I’ve been so amazed by a new band and, in recent memory, only The Bottle Doom Lazy Band (another Doom act whose vocalist also doesn’t hesitate to use almost religious vocal tones) came up with a first album that convinced me as strong. Fatum Elisum is a smart band, a band whose music transcends even the mere fact of being 'just' Doom Metal.The potential here is tremendous, and the technical background sufficient to let Fatum Elisum sail far, far away. If Ataraxie is the french Esoteric, then they are the french Evoken.

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