Desolate, sweeping and haunted, Raison d'Etre have written a masterpiece of atmosphere and emotion; choral chants shiver below scraping washes of sound, vague static tremors and metallic echoes. Reflecting In The Shadows breathes with a ghostly vigour; liturgical chants from a spectral cloister provide the heart of this work, and crashing metal choruses in the distance render a stunning atmosphere. The aural imagery of the Christian Church provides a focal point, a theme given over to lost ages and memories. In Absence Of Light alludes to Eastern aspects of the Church's history, as does Falling Twilight, which is dripping in the music of desert cultures. The Well Of Sadness and Deep Enshrouded return to the desolate scrapings and abyss-like ambience. The six tracks of this album collaborate to form a single, constant mood and atmosphere, with each track providing it's own single element. Deep wells of sound and hopelessness, haunted chorales, barren and scorched atmospheres mingle with ages-old memories and emotions, creating a brilliant score of very stylised liturgical history.

review by: Phosphor