I highlighted this tale as that level of frantic, gloomy orchestration drips off of this amazing musical project, Chamber of Sorrows. Formed and conceived by sole member John Shamus Gaffney in late 2003, Chamber of Sorrows is a morbid orchestra of doom, despair, melancholy, redemption, and even a sort of Gothic hope. It is doom music at its most ancient and noble roots; that of piano, orchestral strings, and folk guitar. There are few vocals (more on that later) but this disc easily survives on the mournful dirge of pulsing bass and quivering strings that it usually entails. It is a crypt symphony, a gloom opera, and everything you could want in pure, wholly pained Gothic music. The best part (the likes of which lack in other similar bands) is that Chamber of Sorrows has the unique ability to focus on your sadness and enlighten it, rather than bring it further down into the pit of hopelessness. Like the aforementioned Erich Zann, this is the sound of strings warding off very bad things in our lives. Unlike Lovecraft's doomed character, Chamber of Sorrows has an aura about its debut disc that will make you think the music (and not the monster) will prevail.

The first song the Chamber of Sorrows ever recorded opens the demo. "Prayers for the Dying" was originally meant to be a cut Gaffney could show to his friends as a sort of surprise; here, the disc maintains that mystique of the unknown. Thick, slithering bass is draped over the listener like a funeral shroud; just as things get too gloomy, the tune switches tempos with a moment or two of quiet notes followed by a soaring crescendo. "Guardians of the Gate" tolls with bell-like solemnity, while dark flourishes of sweeping grace crash and swell. The best part of the song is Gaffney's voice; the man emits a raspy hiss that fits the eerie mood of the song. The insanely mellow "Eyes of Stone" is somber bass slaps, slow and patient. At first I wasn't able to like it, but as time wore on I noticed tiny things nestled in the flow of the song that make it a diamond in the rough. Gaffney whispers in barely audible sighs here, and this is a really great song to drift off to sleep with....until "Flight of the Dragon" wakes your muddled senses up! "Dragon" is so layered with lush strings and morose atmospherics, one can almost swear they're listening to the burial of an European lord.

The majestic "Hour of Darkness" couldn't be any more perfect. Mixing ambient samples of rainfall with foreboding, grim orchestrations, the song winds through passage after passage of expert string-work. The jangling bounce of the kingly "Denial" sounds every bit as stubborn as its name implies; harried strings and wispy effects mix as a strong melody journeys over the remains of both.