Well, Whispering Gallery sure took their sweet time to release the follow up to the 2002 “Last As One” album. I love that album and still regularly play it but had almost given up hope of ever hearing from them again.
Luckily for me and for all melodic doom metal lovers in the world Whispering Gallery overcame their difficulties (the search for a label, the leaving and returning of members) and went on the previously chosen path.

The main ingredients are still present: the thundering grunt of Reinier (who sounds meaner than ever), the clear voice of Hubert (who sounds more mature and balanced than on “Lost As One”) and the slow melodic doom metal with lots of room for the keyboards.
The sound of “Shades Of Sorrow” is a bit odd though. The drums sound very clinical and cold but that could be an artistic choice of the band. The vocals however are mixed in very weird.

It sounds as if the clean vocals and the grunts are two separate layers lying on top of the music.

”Shades Of Sorrow” was originally planned as a four-track mini cd but ultimately ended up as a full-length cd. The recordings were delayed several times and keyboard player Fred even left the band temporarily after the recordings, forcing the band to seek a replacement. Eventually a record label was found and Fred decided to return to Whispering Gallery so everything turned for the better finally.
Whispering Gallery has experienced rough times but are more than eager to promote their new album and their music in the years to come.

Whether you like this type of music or not, one has to applaud the dedication of these guys towards playing the music they believe in.
I, for one, am a believer.