Shape of Despair (FI)
From Helsinki
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Shape of Despair has one upcoming show in the Netherlands: on September 6, 2026 at Bibelot, Dordrecht.
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About
Also known as: RAVEN
Finnish funeral doom band Shape of Despair have been crafting some of the slowest, most atmospheric metal on the planet since their mid nineties origins under the name Raven. Based in Helsinki, they signed to Spikefarm Records and debuted with Shades of... in 2000, then built a devoted following through albums like Angels of Distress and Illusion's Play, with layers of guitars, keyboards and vocals that feel less like songs and more like glacial landscapes. An eleven year gap between full lengths barely dented their reputation, and when Monotony Fields arrived in 2015 via Season of Mist, it was greeted as their strongest work yet. Their 2022 album Return to the Void pushed close to an hour of music, drawing praise for its beauty even as some reviewers noted its deliberately monotonous texture, which for fans of the genre is very much the point. With two vocalists and a sound that has barely conceded a tempo increase in three decades, Shape of Despair remain one of the purest examples of funeral doom metal around.
