Estatic Fear

A somewhat obscure Austrian band, Estatic Fear was formed in 1994, with the goal being to fuse classical melodies with a traditional gothic/doom metal base. By the time of the band's second album, A Sombre Dance, the band was essentially the solo project of Matthias Kogler, who hired a set of session musicians to record the album. A Sombre Dance is a lush gothic doom album, with the expected range of vocals (death, black, clean female), instruments such as pianos, flutes and cellos making major contributions, and sprawling, epic songs. Though not purely a doomdeath band, it's that crowd that will most likely find something of interest here. The band has kept a low profile and it's been nearly ten years since the release of Dance, placing the band's status in question.