We’re first greeted by the longest song on the album, entitled The Light is Gone. . . . This band is all about droning, harmonic ambience, especially apparent towards the middle and end ov the song, where we’re greeted with this sweeping synth that almost drives the song. And though the next song is only a meager minute and 48 seconds, it’s so heavily influenced by the synth that it flowed right into Fields of Despair without me so much as taking a cursory glance at it.
Another thing I really like about this band is the vocals. Kei knows when the proper areas require vocals. Conversely, he also knows when to just let the music speak for itself, something a lot ov bands don’t know how to do. Fields of Despair has this nice ambience before the guitars and vox kick up, sounds ov nature permeating the background noise alongside the synth so perfectly that it’s borderline meditative. Though relatively common amongst drone bands, there appears to be no percussion in any ov the songs either. It’s honestly a good thing because it draws more focus to the actual content ov the songs.
It saddens me to see a band like this go the way ov the dinosaurs. But if there’s one thing that this band conveys through its tracklist, it’s this: everything is impermanent, including music. It is best that we take each moment to savor what we still have before us before watching it [including our own lives] disappear before our eyes amidst the sands ov time. Well done and absolutely recommended for fans ov drone such as Yhdarl or Nebula VII!
Noteworthy tracks: The Light is Gone. . . ., Fields of Despair, Sadness
Score: 85%
Source - http://absolutehell.net/desolation-v-review/
Reviewer - Surtr