Aphotic sounds very mechanical and cold; something that only enhances the listening experience. The music is simplistic, dark and oddly soothing. Their sound is reminiscent of 'Dance of December Souls' era Katatonia combined with the first two October Tide releases.
Strummed open chorded guitars fill each passage while lush keyboards fill the spaces between usually synthesized but times in odd noises. The organic and mechanical sounds blend very nicely never one over powering the other. The vocals are 99% growled/shrieked with some pseudo clean moaning sparsely thrown in.
Despite the fact that this band arose from the ashes of Dusk it sounds nothing like it. Dusk was very aggressive and hateful in their approach whereas Aphotic is very melodic and somber. The deathly riffs of before have been replaced by moodier doom riffs. Both bands are enjoyable on their own merits but Aphotic somehow have more to offer in their repetitive one dimensional presentation. The songs are somewhat epic which is impressive given their short running times. They get their point across in a very direct way.
Each grouping of songs is slightly faster than those before. Though doomy by nature there is an energy and attitude that wasn't there in Dusk. This isn't everyone's cup of tea as again they do come from Katatonia's vast family tree, but this is/was something different and should surely appeal to any fan of atmospheric doom/death.
Words: Grimm Doom
Myspace (NOTE: Band split in 2005 as far as I am aware - Ed )