Transferential displacement so intense that it would set its guilt upon the stars, a dissociation so outsized that our protagonist would take on the aurora itself rather than arrest the soul and identity as it is questioned, pawed over for answers. Fraught as the results of self-examination begin to re-frame consciousness, or, purpose to an unsettling degree Burgos, Spain-based melodic funeral doom metal act Ornamentos del Miedo holds the listener on the perilous edge of relief away from existential dread’s pooling in mind, the throes of anguished introspection draining in majestic downward flow. Feigning some connection with firmament to survive the moment ‘El Cosmos me Observa en Silencio‘ is both glowing blissful torpor and glowering abysmal distress, a font of glorious empyrean lament which appears to freeze or contain time for a full ~72 minutes of pleasurably sojourned agony. Fixation and obsession may very well define much of this projects touch but this fourth full-length album bakes-in much needed relief, eases the tension it creates at just the right ratio that its excess feels entirely necessary, rounding what might’ve been melodic doom metal tropes abounding into nuanced melodramatic brilliancies.

Ornamentos del Miedo formed circa 2017 as a solo outlet for Ángel Chicote a musician best known as one of the guitarists of death metal band Mass Burial, the main proponent of lesser known death/doom metal band Graveyard of Souls as well as an engineer for a handful of related projects local to their part of northeastern Spain. From the get-go they’ve expertly blurred the lines between melodic death/doom metal and funeral doom metal in various ratio, a tradition upheld beyond the mid-to-late 90’s and expanded upon heavily within Scandinavian and United States scenes to start. The project refers to this as “atmospheric funeral doom” and while this makes sense it is a redundant descriptor used to describe everything from Ras Algethi to Shape of Despair over the years, the latter of which certainly applies here in spirit and in the heavy use of keyboards for atmospheric heft and texture. Fans of Colosseum, Officium Triste and perhaps Mournful Congregation will quickly understand the language this record speaks up front, though the appeal of the heavily melodic lead guitar focus found throughout this album should find a broader audience within melodic death/doom metal’s more tuneful but perhaps not directly gothic (or death metal, for that matter) spectrum. If you’d prefer to skip the contextualized discography recap: The artist has been unflinching in their compositional style but experiments with texture and feeling within each full-length, characterized by longform (~10-12 minute) songs which are decidedly melodic.

This world was essentially borne fully grown with the pristine dread of ‘Este No Es Tu Hugar‘ (2019) where the command of the riffs and their general shape had been consistent but the use of keyboards was still a floating geist in the background, a cathedralesque hum which swirled the full listen in and out of focus. While I could probably cut into the minutiae that separates the artist then and now there was a certain tunefulness and a reasonably high quality of render achieved on that debut that has consistently been felt within each release since. On one hand the standard was set high from the start and on the other hand little has changed over the course of four full-length albums. The one sort of misstep, or adventure away from the core signature sound of the band was ‘Ecos‘ (2020), an album which’d seemed to be aiming for a cosmic temperament in terms of a less melodramatic sound built upon a different set of synth/keyboard tone and a harsher, muffled vocals. Something was “off” with that record but it wasn’t a drastic misstep.

For my own taste the third full-length (‘Yo, No Soy Yo‘, 2022) was the breakthrough in terms of identity for Ornamentos del Miedo as Chicote‘s guitar work attained a tunefulness which was a step apart from the pure dissociation of certain melodically-tipped funeral doom tradition, longform melodic metal pieces with a deeply sombre cadence which will likely be a bit of a dream album for folks who’ve obsessed over ‘Dance of December Souls‘ for as long as I have. I’d liked it at least enough to include it on my Best of June that year and commented: “The mood here taps us into the crestfallen ethereal, immediately evocative of a great hollow expanse which is majestic in view yet sorrowful, painful in its greater journey through the self and (as the title implies) the draining existential questioning all must face at one point or another.” This is more-or-less my universal response to the artist’s work thus far, including the follow-up mLP (‘Frío‘, 2023), viewing his work as a sombre funeral march through disenfranchisement, a hardening of the self and a loss of interest in the animalistic reactivity of an increasingly chaotic reality. Something much deeper than the usual exaggerations of maudlin depression, at least. We find a different angle upon this focus with ‘El Cosmos Me Observa en Silencio‘ and even more introverted showing which focuses on dual lead guitar driven melodies and some different keyboard tones to create the best sky-fixated framing from the project to date.

The exceptionally patient melodic death/doom metal fan who specifically appreciates the gothic-tinged melodicism of the 90’s yet expects the extended ecstasy of funeral doom metal’s more palatable visions of extremity since then should identify with ‘El Cosmos me Observa en Silencio‘ immediately as they crack into opener “Sombra agonizante”, striking upon the first of many extended melodic arcs which frame the major voicing of the album. This opening statement evolves over the course of its first three minutes, bulking its layers as the piece builds and generally finding the right iced-over, searching keyboard/synth tones to render the atmosphere thick yet keep the core tunefulness of the song intact. The shape of the riffs is inherently slow motion doom metal as expected and the play of pacing, use of light refrain upholds a profound dramatism even more captivating than some of the best pieces on ‘Yo, No Soy Yo‘. Deceptively simple as songcraft can be for this type of music, and this is one of the more straightforward compositions on the album, the effect of it is especially potent here as I’d found myself instantly in the graces of this album’s melodic voicing and along for the ride.

Rather than gush on and attempt to tackle the depth of these long, readable yet involved pieces it’ll suffice to say that for the first four of six songs on this album Ornamentos del Miedo only seem to amplify the scope of their prose, emotional constructs aimed at the panoramic sullen majesty presented. While I believe many would suggest this sound/style is not unheard of or anything short of traditional within a certain mindset I’d offer its immersion as an exceptional exaggeration of melodic death/doom metal’s best qualities presented in a sincere fashion. Modest vocals do little to serve the music beyond a cold, cornered mind which does not overstep the realm of funeral death/doom metal in general. The whole experience would burst from the speakers a bit harder if the vocals were more than gravel on the floor and a consistently low mood is presented herein, sure, but this allows for the feature of the guitar work to generate focus. This is the great strength of the full listen, memorable guitar runs and expansive corridors of atmospheric doom metal lead by a sullen narrator.

“Vida es violencia” burns with passionate dissent, “Infierno sutil” desperately reaches both hands up to the sky as this thread begins to lift its veil of discontented yearning to reveal the grand celestially strewn hope embedded in the experience. The title track, “El cosmos me observa en silencio”, isn’t the first piece on this album to reveal the moldering ’90’s Katatonia influence upon the composition and lead guitar work but you’ll understand the repeated reference I’ve made to that style most clearly at that point. Of course this is just one (big) part of a nearly sixteen minute piece which acts as a pillar at the peak immersion of the full listen but it does feel like the whole of the album built up to this ethereal point of release, or, resignation at the peak. For my taste the album, the thought and the presentation of theme could’ve ended right there as it is a masterful point of resonance. Perhaps the only downside to the listening experience is that it goes on for ~23 more minutes.

“El Camino Desaparece a Cado Paso” may very well belabor the point of conversation that Ornamentos del Miedo have to offer here but it does not mar or damage the thread. Most any funeral doom metal fan will have to fortitude for the excess push into the last two endtime pieces on this album but I’d not found necessary beyond reaffirming the funeral doom metal style of the group and the extended celestial closure of “Supra Conscientiam Mea” being a ~13 minute instrumental soured the impact of the full listen on my part. I’ll nonetheless accept a belabored overspill, “too much of a good thing” isn’t such a state of suffering. Otherwise I’ve only a few small points of complaint, the first being that the album art is evocative (both in CD and digital forms) but doesn’t do the fine music on hand much justice, some manner of fine art or expressive painting would’ve set this one over the edge. ‘El Cosmos me Observa en Silencio‘ has ultimately managed to crack into my skull, pour its contents into the void and reinforce the fandom that’d been brought about per their third full-length. At this point I trust and admire the path this fellowe is walking and found myself immersed in this sky-gazing world for days at a time. A moderately high recommendation.

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