At last Danish doom metal group Saturnus has finished their third album, carrying the sinister title "Veronika Decides to Die" inspired by Paulo Coelho's novel of the same name. So, in the end this album was six years in the making, which leads to the question "is the material excellent, as one could assume". Actually the material is of high quality, though I would have loved to hear even more varied use of vocals - for the most part, there's only monotonous growling or spoken lyrics that lack dynamics. In my view, the compositions being highly atmospheric and fairly melancholic, this record would have benefitted from greater use of sporadic clean sonorous vocals. However, there are quite many long instrumental sections that have been skilfully crafted, and they balance the material quite conveniently.

The heartfelt melodies on this record are really gripping, and as a whole this album is rather impressive. It takes its listener to a journey through misery and pain, agony and solitude - well, you'll get the picture. I believe the experience could be enriched by reading Coelho's novel, but due to lack of time I confined myself to simply using my imagination.

This album was produced and mixed by the famed Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Morbid Angel, Blind Guardian among others). The sounds are mostly to the point - there's enough room for atmosphere, but the occasional distortion is somewhat disruptive. Also, some sounds could have been mixed better. All in all, Saturnus' Veronika Decides to Die is rather good doom metal record - it definitely was worth the wait for the fans of this group. Highly recommended to all enthusiasts of mellow doom metal.

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- MAGE (July 29th, 2006)

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LINE-UP:
Thomas A.G.: Vocals Anders: Keyboards Peter: Guitars Tais: Guitars Lennart: Bass Nikolaj: Drums with Denner, Michael: 2nd Solo on Descending
Producer:	Rasmussen, Flemming
Mixing by:	Rasmussen, Flemming
Mastering by:	Hansson, Flemming "Junior"

	TRACKLIST:
	01. I Long 02. Pretend 03. Descending 04. Rain Wash Me 05. All Alone 06. Embraced by Darkness 07. To the Dreams 08. Murky Waters Length: 59:23