Review by Adam M on December 12, 2017.

Pagan Alter performs a very traditional take on the metal genre. Their music has elements of doom and other genres incorporated into it, but it doesn’t rely completely on any specific genre. Instead a cocktail of music is served that has a very passionate standpoint to it. The music is very traditional sounding with a viewpoint that doesn’t fall completely in the doom or traditional metal genres, however.

The vocals are very nasally, but the music is more traditional than what Manilla Road offers, for example. The vocals also have a deeper tone than what can be found from that band. Guitars are driving and immediate, but not overly heavy and lend to a very mid-paced recording. The music becomes comfortable to the listener quickly and they are able to become entranced in the recording. It has a familiarity that makes it a welcome listen, even though there is a mixture of genres to be found here. The songs are played at a nice pace and the listener is able to keep up with the rhythms quite appropriately. Overall the songs are very vibrant and full of passion, which makes them pleasant to listen to. However, the music here doesn’t have the impact some albums of the traditional or doom genres have because it splices material from both genres instead. The album still lingers with the listener well after listening and they can become attached to the songs.  

The effect is very positive that the album has on you, which is weird because one can detect a negative vibe to the proceedings here. They still manage to be uplifting in a strange way and contribute to the quality of the music here. The Room of Shadows comes recommended to all who like to hear pleasant sounding metal crafted with love.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10