Now here is a band that I've wanted to listen to and review for a while now. I first heard On Thorns I Lay years ago and really liked what I heard, but finding their albums proved to be difficult. Now I finally got my hands on their 1997 release Orama, and let me tell you there is some really great music here. At this point in their career the Greek band played a mixture of Gothic and Doom metal that has a decidedly melancholy atmosphere, and in this particular album the theme is water (as you may have guessed by the cover art), or more specifically the ocean. The band does a great job at staying true to this atmosphere, creating serene yet desolate soundscapes that flow very well over the entire hour-long duration.

Atlantis I begins with creepy effects and samples that sound like a city (or island) crumbling apart into the sea, but soon a guitar riff slices in with some real intensity. The operatic vocals don't exactly complement the music perfectly, but they do create an interesting contrast that is soon made more apparent by the deep growls of frontman Stefanos Kintzoglou. This first song is also marred by the production somewhat as the guitars are quite loud in the mix, as well as the drums, which kind of overpower everything else. About halfway through the female vocals do really shine however. I like the contrasts they're trying to make, but the mix does ruin it a bit. Nevertheless it's a pretty solid first track that tells you what this band is capable of. Song Of The Sea is a nice ambient/symphonic interlude that does actually make me think of being on the ocean at night. This is contrasted by the catchy, energetic riffs that begin Oceans, one of my favorites from the album. The song has a sense of power that somewhat reminds me of 80s Metallica blended with a more epic gothic sound. The growled/grunted vocals are a little silly, but not bad. I really like the melodic guitar work here as well as the female vocals layered beneath the growls. In Heaven's Island makes another great gothic ballad. I especially like the retro sounding mournful guitar wails. At this point I have forgotten my initial gripes about the production and I'm just enjoying the flow of the music. The reverb on the guitars is also just right and adds to this watery feeling they're trying to create. Atlantis II has some more extended instrumental passages, but keeps coming back to the main set of catchy riffs and chorus that is quite memorable. Sometimes I do feel like I've heard some particular riff or solo before, but usually it's so good that I don't care. If I Could Fly and Aura add some quicker energy to the album before The Blue Dream plays it out with another epic, symphonic inspired song that once again captures this atmosphere of being lost somewhere on the sea.

As you may have gathered from this review, this album is a must for those who enjoy dark gothic and doom metal. The entire album stays consistent and flows very nicely for the entire time, something very difficult to achieve. Many of the songs are of the longer variety, but I really did not notice the length while listening because the music is so engaging. Needless to say, this is an album that deserves much more recognition. While it's not the most original sounding music, it brings together elements not often combined, especially in the context of when it was released. I will definitely be listening to this album much more in the future.