Review Summary: If Genndy Tartakovky's Primal was a dungeon synth record.
There is something i find oddly romantic about the frostbitten landscape. When I listen to Paysage d'Hiver my imagination instantly transports me into the middle of snowstorm, sparse of trees and wildlife and finding myself at a point where i calmly accept my fate. When I listen to Frozen Soul I picture the image of myself getting pummeled by frost trolls and being dragged back to the cave to get eaten horrifically. The band I'm writing about today conjures similar feelings toward winter although in a much more melancholic and geographical fashion. Path of Giants is a one man artist from Austria who has delivered us a masterful prehistoric themed ambient album with an emphasis on the mammoth and a chilly atmosphere.
The somber artwork donning Melted Ice on the Coast of Destiny shows a a bleak indication of how this record is going to go. However, this isn't metal, but it's incredibly heavy nonetheless. Path of Giants I will say, in my option have dropped the most depressing dungeon synth album I've ever heard. The whole vibe from track 1-7 falls on the lines of winter/dungeon synth with a grim as freezing to death alone in the woods atmosphere. The album and song titles don't do much to suggest anything else. In essence this a funeral doom record at heart, the synths are mournful yet calming, each of the seven chapters carrying you closer to the other side. Additional piano and various animal and sound effects thrown in to create more depth and to suggest an environment of wildlife suffering from the elements which adds to the great sorrow heard here.
Going back to The lone mammoth adorning the cover, the image instantly took me to Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, particularly the scene where the ravaged mammoth was ravaged by Spear and Fang before the rest of the herd came together to mourn their fallen friend. That show and this record convey a similar feeling of overwhelming sadness and mortality along with the day wooly mammoths roamed the landscape. At thirty minutes long this is not a long or difficult listening experience but I do find it perfect to listen to when I'm lost in my thoughts of past mistakes made, loss of youth, the dying dream of a better tomorrow and facing an uncertain future. Sad music brings a lot of people peace and comfort, always has and Melted Ice is great for helping you cope with life's hardships. It will also take your mind off the heat.
