Of course record labels always heap praise on their own releases, and only the naive would take that without a heaping dose of salt. We use lots of salt. As consumers of endless press releases, we often roll our eyes at the hyperbole after listening to what they gush about, and too often find that instead of groundbreaking AOTY material the music turns out to be generic and dull.

The track record of some labels is solid enough, and their good taste dependable enough, that we give more weight to their promotional verbiage. Transcending Obscurity Records is one of those labels. But we still confess to being a bit skeptical when reading their claim that the Finnish band Arche had succeeded in adding “masterful touches” to the sounds developed by such groups as Thergothon, Skepticism, and Shape of Despair, and their proud proclamation that Arche‘s new album Transitions is “an immaculate expression of ethereal, moving, atmospheric doom metal that has everything in the right proportions”.

Would it really be so? Continue reading »