Servants of the Mist – Gross Knowledge of Genital Mutilation (Review)

This is the latest EP from US Sludge/Doom Metal band Servants of the Mist.

The EP is 25 minutesin length and after the perfunctory intro we’re into the feedback-drenched first song Undeserving, which at just under 12 minutes serves as the centrepiece of the release.

The music is crushing, monolithic Doom with a corrupted, rotten Sludge veneer and a core of pure hatred.

We get bowel-loosening deep vocals and piercing high-pitched ones, both sound great and complement the music perfectly.

A deep aura of misery pervades these tracks and the band do all they can to punish and obliterate the listener with their steady, slow assault.

This is a really enjoyable form of dank Doom that just won’t give up; the strongly oppressive feeling of the tracks makes for a compelling release that sticks in the mind long after the last foetid chord has faded.

The band have enough talent that whether they are playing agonisingly slow Doom or slightly-more-upbeat Sludge they do it with obvious passion and with riffs to die for.

Negatively emotive and bleakly enticing; Servants of the Mist really know how to write a good Doom tune.

I mean, honestly; if you’re at all into this kind of music what’s not to like here?