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CD in deluxe Digipak with 8-page booklet

There are few funeral doom bands out there that manage to express sorrow and despair in such a majestic and beautiful manner as SHAPE OF DESPAIR. The Finns’ latest full-length is a product of their environment, enveloping the listener in cold, eternal darkness like a lonely Finnish winter. And much like the long, funereal winters of their homeland, the atmosphere in ‘Return to the Void’ is bleak but ethereal. The funeral doom icons do not merely offer a soundtrack to one’s agony, but also demonstrate the beauty that can often be found in misery.

For fans of FUNERAL, MOURNFUL CONGREGATION, BELL WITCH, AHAB, EVOKEN.

Mark Deeks, who earned his PhD in Philosophy on the topic of "National Identity in Northern and Eastern European Heavy Metal", is also a member of leading UK black metal stalwarts WINTERFYLLETH and keeps himself busy as a musical director, arranger, piano coach, and conductor as well as a best selling author. On "Take Up My Bones", Mark is supported by WOLCENSMEN mastermind Dan Capp on guitars and backing vocals. He is also joined by ATAVIST drummer Callum Cox, and a spellbinding performance from cellist Jo Quail (MY DYING BRIDE et al.) delivers the coup de grace