This is the second album from Tides of Sulfur, a blackened sludge metal band from the UK.
Apathy Chasm is the eagerly awaited, (by me at any rate), 39-minute follow up to 2016’s mighty Extinction Curse. Prepare yourself for punishment. The foul music on Apathy Chasm is a merciless blackened amalgamation of fetid death metal and unearthly sludge.
Tides of Sulfur have refined their sound on this new album, delivering an evolved version that complements its predecessor well. When comparing the two albums, Apathy Chasm has a greater black metal influence, and less of a death metal one, although the deathly influences remain detectable. It also generally has shorter songs that are faster paced. All that being said though, Apathy Chasm is still monstrously heavy. It’s a nasty sludge album at heart, which means caustic riffs, huge doom workouts, and a grim aggressive attitude.
Tides of Sulfur’s songwriting is sharp and feral. The band make use of skilled dynamics and well-crafted materials to build songs that stand strongly amidst the carnage that they have wrought. There’s a savagery here that’s withering, yet the band have a skill in refining this into songs that benefit from focused intensity and a surfeit of riffs.
Apathy Chasm is a welcome return from Tides of Sulfur. Heavy, heavy, heavy, with an increase in blackened hostility and a venomous bite to match, Apathy Chasm is the next phase in Tides of Sulfur’s evolution.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 