Ixone
Oh good lord, what have I even gotten myself into? One bizarre mention of influences and I’m on a cruise down the river Styx… absolutely brilliant! The Medea Project have come forward and delivered what I can only describe as an absolute Doom Metal oddball; a fascinating one, yes, but an oddball nevertheless. Crushing, eerie and disjointed are only a few of the myriad of adjectives that come to mind when listening to Kharon (the river Styx mention wasn’t actually pointless), brought forth by both the music and the adjacent elements, such as the stunning cover artwork. That being said, I shall leave the introduction as it is and actually do what I am supposed to.
Despite the ties to Greek mythology that both the band name and album title might suggest, the main source of inspiration behind the record is Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, more specifically the Inferno. The music doesn’t shy away from emphasizing this aspect, presenting the listener a bleak, desolate soundscape where the screams of the tormented cut through the crushing atmosphere. This feeling of emptiness is prevalent throughout the whole album, seemingly becoming more and more intense as the songs pass. The slow tempos are the main cause for this, as is typical of Doom Metal, yet the strange combinations of styles presented makes it feel truly unique and stand out when compared to its musical peers. This eclectic approach is obvious from the first couple of seconds, as we have more traditional and more extreme forms of doom metal essentially crashing into one another. Think of a violent clash between A Pale Horse Named Death, early Tiamat and Bell Witch; even this description is not enough to capture it fully.
The instrumentation itself is fairly hard to describe. It has all the standard traits of Doom Metal, yes but at the same time it is executed in such an interesting way that it becomes a completely different animal. The songs are fragmented, impossible to anticipate, and leave no room for reprieve from the desolation. Nevertheless, both the guitar and drums are on the technical side, not in a flashy way, but in the amount of techniques and styles they include. For example, on the track “Purgatory Trapped” you will find, along with the main riffs and melodies, a considerable amount of inclusions, that break down the composition, adding to the sensation of impending doom. As I have mentioned, the album can be described as “disjointed”, and this technique is the primary cause behind it. I feel like I need to state, however, that I am not saying this as a critique, because The Medea Project are without a doubt making it work.
The aspect that impressed me the most was the vocal performance (yes, you are right noticing a pattern in that”). However, in this case, it is truly something to behold. It includes both clean singing a low growls, but it doesn’t just randomly switch between them, it blends these techniques together, thus adding to the sensation of “the sky collapsing”. There are great examples of this all throughout the album, obviously, but one of my personal favorites comes toward the end of “Upon Your Bones”, when the song picks up and one can hear an excellent display of distorted clean singing that will send shivers down your spine.
That being said, this album takes a while getting used to. Given that it is so ambitious in its undertakings, it will definitely come across as intimidating or hard to approach. I have my reasons to assume that it will leave even some diehard doomers scratching their heads. And while yes, it’s not a walk in the park by any means, one cannot help but appreciate the effort and creativity displayed on Kharon. I certainly did, and I am sure some of you will too
Label: Independent
Release date: 20 June, 2025
Website: https://www.facebook.com/themedeaprojectband
Country: UK
Score: 4.0/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 