Doom – Page 123 – Wonderbox Metal

Krigsgrav – Waves of Degradation (Review)

Krigsgrav are a Black Metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

This is long and expansive Black Metal with a melodic edge. It’s vibrant and exploratory without losing focus and across these lengthy tracks the band take the time to unfold their vision of what Black Metal should look, feel and sound like in 2016.

If you take the depressive core of a band like Forgotten Tomb and add some Post-Black Metal influences, then you’ll be in the right area of where Krigsgrav lurk. Elements of depressive and melodic Black Metal round this out, as well as some aspects of funeral Doom.

With a decent recording the band’s compositions take on a dark life of their own. All of the instruments sound clear and precise, and I always like an album that you can hear the bass on, especially when it makes a valid and noticeable contribution to the music.

Additional instrumentation appears here and there, adding extra tools to the band’s repertoire and deepening the depths of sound that they create.

The vocals are notably impressive; ragged screams that sound like the singer is ripping his throat out are enhanced by the occasional deeper growl and some powerful cleans.

The songs describe harrowing tales of misery and hopelessness, set against a backdrop of just enough light and possibility so as to make the dark atmospheres all the worse. The mixture of lighter sections and heavier, blackened distortion work well and the build/release Post-Metal mechanic is used effectively in a Post-Black Metal environment.

Waves of Degradation is an impressive listen and has more than enough content to compel you to visit it again and again.

Recommended.

Primitive Man/Sea Bastard – Split (Review)

This is a split release between two of Doom’s darkest stars, Primitive Man from the US and Sea Bastard from the UK.

Both excel at what they do and having both of them on one release is quite an exciting prospect.

Primitive Man start us off with two tracks of the grimmest, most evil Sludge-fuelled Doom that there is. It’s 17 minutes of agonised pain and hatred. After many releases, (here, here and here, for example), I still can’t get enough of the horribly bleak noises that they make.

Colossally heavy and nihilistically bleak, Primitive Man always deliver the goods, and on this split it seems that the goods are well past their best-before-date and covered in filth and dirt.

The singer has hands-down one of the best pitch-black growls I’ve ever heard and when his voice first makes an appearance on Cold Resolve it’s like being floored by a truck. That’s if the slow, crushing guitars haven’t flattened you before then. The song proceeds to crawl across your broken corpse, all distorted malice and squealing feedback, slowly pressing you into the ground until there’s nothing left.

The second song of theirs is the shorter of the two, yet is no less nasty for it. Servant starts off with a feedback squeal and is typically crushing from then on in, once again showing off the kind of high-quality Doom that the band have become known for. Dripping with spite and rage-fuelled negativity, as the track unfolds things just get heavier and darker until the playing time is mercifully over.

But there’s no real breather, as we now have Sea Bastard’s colossal near-20 minute behemoth of a track, The Hermit, to deal with.

Like Primitive Man, Sea Bastard keep unleashing quality releases on the world, (here, for example), and this is no exception.

Sea Bastard’s Sludge Metal is less dripping with filth than Primitive Man’s, but no less effective for it. Previously I’ve described them as similar to Bongripper only with screams and growls, and that’s not a band starting point for initial reference.

Sea Bastard specialise in settling into a slow-burning crawling-groove, with a mesmerising heaviness drawing the listener in and repeating itself over and over, but never to the point of where the listener loses interest. This is enticing and hypnotic, and just when you can’t take it any more the band shift gears or change riffs and the suffocating Doom takes on a different edge, no less crushing than the last.

The screamed vocals are the perfect accompaniment to the music’s guitars, and the combination of the two produces a very satisfying feeling deep in the stomach where the bass seems to have set up home.

Picking up the pace a bit halfway through, the band show that it’s not just slow riffs that they can peel off with ease. This doesn’t last, of course, and once spent the juggernaut returns to a malevolent crawl as the song claws its way to conclusion.

The Hermit is just as good as anything the band have released, and combined with Primitive Man’s side of the split this is a pretty damn essential Doom release for anyone who’s into this kind of thing.

DOOM!

Boris/Merzbow – Gensho – Split (Review)

This is a split between two well-known, (in underground circles, at least), Japanese groups; Boris and Merzbow.

This is a mammoth release that contains almost two and a half hours of music, evenly split between both artists. This is an exact split too, as the two sides are designed to be played either separately or simultaneously; doing the latter provides yet a different experience as the music of the two syncs up to provide the listener with something greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Boris’ side features 9 songs that are all percussion-less versions of some of their existing tracks. This reinterpretation of their own work lends the songs a different quality to the originals, (some of which I’m familiar with and some of which I’m not), creating dreamy soundscapes and indulgent forays into emotive colour and feeling.

The band have picked tracks that demonstrate their emotive and Doom/Drone side well, resulting in an emotive and atmospheric release that easily stands up on its own even without its counterpart music from Merzbow.

As someone who’s a massive fan of all things drums, I’m pleased with how well the music holds up without percussion and this Boris side of the split is stronger and more effective than I expected.

Merzbow is a legendary noise-maker that I have been aware of for so long now that I can’t recall. However, apart from the odd collaboration or guest spot on someone else’s music, I have never actually heard anything by him. Due to my general antipathy towards most percussion-less noise, I’ve never felt the urge to particular seek out his music, so it’s taken this long to hear anything by him.

With that in mind, we turn our attention to these four colossal tracks that are designed, as with the Boris ones, to be played individually or in conjunction with those of his split-mates.

Unfortunately, as alluded to previously, most noise leaves me rather cold, and although I can appreciate that these Merzbow tracks have structure and do create harsh soundscapes with squeals, feedback and distorted crackles, etc., it’s ultimately not a style I can claim to love.

Having said that though, these tracks do have their moments, and due to the prolonged playing time I was very surprised to find myself eventually settling into it. Shocking! As I say; in general this is not a type of music that really does that much for me, so it’s testament to his skill as an artist that I can actually willingly listen to this and take something from it.

None were more surprised than I. It seems that Merzbow deserves his reputation after all.

So here we have it, a very long and surprisingly enjoyable release that certainly won’t be for everyone, but may be more to your liking than you might first think.

However, that’s not the end of it, and this is where the genius comes in; play the two artists together as is intended, and everything changes. All of sudden, the Merzbow contribution works wonders when taken alongside the Boris tracks. The resulting soundscapes combine the harsh frequencies and dreamy guitar-based drones to produce four long tracks that paint some really evocative musical pictures.

This, for me, is the ultimate way to enjoy this release. Taken in at the same time, the entire experience gets elevated and I wouldn’t really listen to it any other way now.

Some releases are a challenge to review and this one has been a marathon of exploration and expectation-destroying revelation. It has been worth every second though, and I can’t wait to hear what you think about this one.

Rorcal – κρέων (Creon)(Review)

Rorcal are a Blackened Doom band from Switzerland. This is their fourth album.

Rorcal are an intriguing band. Having produced a lot of Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal music over the years, their last couple of releases have shown an increasing Black Metal side to their sound, which they now seem to have fully incorporated into their repertoire, (see their split with Process of Guilt, for example). In fact, they’re pretty much at the point now where you could describe them as a Black Metal band and not raise too many eyebrows.

This latest album sees the band offer forth four new tracks spread across 53 minutes, each one a monster. κρέων (Creon) once more demonstrates the band’s mastery of Extreme Metal in all its guises.

The Black Metal elements are present and correct, as are the Sludge, Post-Metal and Doom ones. Rorcal have always had a surprisingly clean and sophisticated sound, despite their predilections for darkness, and κρέων (Creon) is no different. The music may be grim and charged with an energetic negativity, but the band always seem to manage to sound cutting edge no matter what they’re doing, even in their sludgiest or most blackened moments.

These songs mix blackened fury with progressive intent and atmospheric Sludge. As always, whatever aspect of whatever style that Rorcal are currently focusing their attentions on seems to work for them, and the aura of malevolent aggression and downbeat nastiness that these songs exude is palpable.

So, Rorcal return, triumphant, bold and victorious. They are fast becoming one of my favourite purveyors of darkened delights.

Boss Keloid – Herb Your Enthusiasm (Review)

Boss Keloid are a Sludge Metal band from the UK. This is their second album.

Boss Keloid’s Sludge fuses Metal, Doom, Stoner and even Progressive Metal and Grunge into its tar-like embrace, offering the listener 59 minutes of compelling riffage.

With a huge, massive sound, Boss Keloid bring the heaviness with ease. The songs are chock-full of tasty riffs and the kind of guitars that can knock you over if played at full volume.

The Stoner-esque vocals sound really good, adding an extra level of colour and richness to already textured music. The singer has commanding presence, great personality and charisma, all of which are clearly felt through his voice.

The songs themselves are very satisfying, all the more so due to the decent amount of variety and interest that the album has. With almost an hour of music it would be easy to lose momentum or have some dull moments, but the incorporation of the various Metal sub-genres into the mix makes for a very endearing and engaging album.

Unlike some bands that use multiple styles as parts of their musical recipe, Boss Keloid don’t move from one easily identified sub-genre in one section to another; the band mix all of these elements into the songs together, holistically making the most of these influences to the betterment of the songs and the album as a whole.

Each track is recognisable as its own beast with its own identity, and pretty much every track has elements of the wider pool of influences mixed in.

An extremely impressive album. Herb Your Enthusiasm is a keeper.

For fans of Conan, Electric Wizard, Mammoth Storm, Orange Goblin, Down, etc.

Valerinne – Monumenta (Review)

This is the third album from Romanian instrumental Post-Metal band Valerinne.

Treading the same stylistic landscape as bands like Pelican and Russian Circles, Valerinne offer up 63 minutes of long, epic tracks that take the listener on a journey in sound and the many ways that it can be used to evoke certain feelings.

Post-Metal and Post-Rock are rightly known for bright, resplendent guitar melodies, shooting out of, (usually), darker music to create multi-faceted and rich compositions that aim to strike a chord with the listener. The music on Monumenta certainly meets that goal and these five songs have more than enough meaningful content to satisfy.

The guitars aren’t the only star of the show though, as not only is there an extremely solid rhythm section providing a firm backbone to the tracks, but added synths also make appearances, subtly enhancing the musical soundscapes and adding value whenever and wherever they’re used.

Deftly utilising the Post-Metal/Post-Rock tried-and-tested build/release mechanic, these tracks take their time exploring the various sounds and feelings of the world they find themselves in, building to crescendo before moving off in into other areas, repeatedly, as the nuances of the songs demand. These are frequently slow and gradual shifts, with the music having a glacial, unhurried feel, despite the sometimes upbeat drums and rhythms.

Albums like this are effortless to enjoy; it’s very easy to just put them on and slip out of the everyday world, getting lost in the exotic and enticing soundscapes created by a talented group such as Valerinne. Press play on this album and this is precisely what happens.

Sit back, take it all in and savour.

Slabdragger – Rise of the Dawncrusher (Review)

This is the second album from this UK Doom/Sludge band.

This is an album full of sprawling epics, lasting 61 minutes in length, largely spread across 4 songs. There are five tracks in total though, with the fifth, (actually track 2 – Evacuate!), being the odd one out as, at under 5 minutes, it’s nasty, frenzied and comparatively short.

Slabdragger are heavy. They have the kind of thick, syrupy rhythm guitar that feels like it could swamp entire cities with its distortion. This immediately makes these tracks a very satisfying proposition, regardless of any other considerations.

Huge Stoner riffs power things, while the pounding drums set the backdrop. These tracks provide an ample exemplar of fuzzed-up filth and Slabdragger use all of the various tools at their disposal to spread their dirt far and wide.

During the playing time the band cover a lot of bases and visit several different grime-covered planets in the Sludge spaceways that they navigate. Yeah, yeah; as Sci-Fi metaphors go, it’s not the best, but it’s a nod to the theme of the album so just run with it… Suffice to say that this is an album that doesn’t get boring and even though it’s long there is a lot of content here to enjoy. Whether you prefer upbeat rage, downbeat misery, reflective calm, monolithic Doom or mid-paced crushers – Slabdragger have it covered.

Drawn-out cleans, insectile screams and dark shouted growls provide more than enough vocal variety and are all buried in the tide of crushing guitar riffs that the band peel off with ease.

Shot through with groovy melodies and ugly intent, these tracks are full of treasures and delights for those brave enough to pick through the musical ruins that the band inhabit; ruins that were probably once a thriving world, crushed and destroyed by the band’s incredible heaviness, I would imagine.

Most of my favourite parts on this release are provided by the guitars, this could be a chunky, grooved-up riff or when the band settle into a hypnotic repetition that you think you can just lose yourself in.

The Doom/Stoner/Sludge concoctions that they have come up with on Rise of the Dawncrusher are so very, very satiating that at the end of this veritable feast of filth you feel full and satisfied. Slabdragger have delivered the goods, make no mistake.

This is an extremely ambitious and impressive album, one that you need to have in your collection.

A must listen.

Convulsif – IV (Review)

Convulsive are an experimental band from Switzerland. This is their fourth album.

After the blackened mindfuck, (in a good way), that was CD3, Convulsif return with something a bit different that’s actually superior. It’s mostly instrumental, dark and surprisingly addictive.

Featuring bass, clarinet, violin and drums, this is an experimental foray into noise and unusual Rock. These instruments come together in a variety of ways to produce music that is always trying to push the envelope and always manages to be emotive, in one fashion or another.

Largely gone is the experimental Black Metal of their previous release, although stylistically and atmospherically we’re not a million miles away from it with some of he crawling Doom/Drone here; IV can still be dark and foreboding when it wants to, as well as displaying any number of other moods.

Instead, this release has an even more diverse approach than its predecessor. Doom, Post-Rock, Black Metal and Grind are all merely ingredients to be liberally sprinkled around during these 37 minutes, and Convulsif leave few stones left unturned in their quest for sonic excess.

Disturbing noises and unsettling vibes are frequently the order of business for IV, mixed in with Grindcore-level extremity and exploratory bludgeoning. Add in some Jazz and some sexy bass workouts and you end up with a compelling collection of twisted soundscapes that really succeed where such an eclectic, esoteric assortment of tracks could so easily fail.

If you’re in mind for something a bit different that has a lot to offer, check out IV; you won’t regret it.

Inverloch – Distance | Collapsed (Review)

This is the début album from Australian Doom/Death band Inverloch.

Featuring members of the legendary Disembowelment, this is a highly anticipated release in some quarters that lives up to the lofty expectations laid upon it, for the most part.

Here we have a flawless blend of Doom and Death Metal, so much so that you could almost classify the band as one or the other, really, if the Doom aspect wasn’t quite so all-pervading.

Inverloch are heavy, nasty and clearly know what they’re doing. Also, did I mention they’re heavy? The songs chug, blast and DOOOOOM their way through the 39 minutes of ugly misery contained on this release, and it’s barely contained at that.

It’s easy to like these songs, as whether the band are playing at a snail’s pace or blasting out with furious mayhem, it’s all done extremely well.

More than just a collection of devastating riffs and deep growls, (although there’s more than enough of both), Distance | Collapsed has an emotional resonance and depth that is surprising in its effectiveness, considering how harrowing and mind-numbingly dark these songs actually are.

The riffs are ominous, unsettling and frequently more than a little bit scary. To say Inverloch are an imposing proposition is putting it mildly. There’s just something about the darkened auras that they create… In some ways these tracks are like scraping at a raw wound; you know you shouldn’t, but it just feels so damn good. Or something. Oh I dunno, just listen to Inverloch, it’s worth it in every way.

Primitive Man/Northless – Split (Review)

Both hailing from the US and both peddling versions of Sludge/Doom, this split between Primitive Man and Northless got me quite excited when I first became aware of it.

Primitive Man are up first, and readers of this site should be familiar with them from their previous releases Home Is Where the Hatred Is and Split with Hexis.

They offer a single track, Empty Husk, which is a generous 15 minutes long. In my opinion Primitive Man are one of the best purveyors of hate-fuelled Doom out there, and this track does nothing to change that view.

The band have a thick, heavy, sludgy guitar tone that’s just perfect for the kind of music they play. The huge riffs are claustrophobic crushers that seem to suck the air from the room and replace it with tar.

One of my absolute favourite things about the band is the singer’s voice – his growls are just so perfectly pitch black, so utterly cavernous and without hope, it’s truly frightening.

Empty Husk starts off slow and unfolds drenched in feedback and drum rolls. The dark, Doom-drenched atmosphere is built up and maintained, right until it can’t take any more and spills over into blackened blast beats that soon spend themselves in fits of bubbling hatred, only to slow down to a crawl once more, dragging out the misery and contempt for all to soak in.

Phew.

Northless’ side of the split is a similar length, (17 minutes), but divided into three tracks. Although they’ve never been featured on this site before, their enjoyable brand of Sludge Metal is always a welcome listen.

They’re less-Doom and more Sludge than Primitive Man, which is demonstrated in opener Deleted Heartstrings when it starts with a rip-roaring upbeat tempo that crashes through everything around it in its hurry to spread its dirt.

Theirs is a filthy cacophony of twisted, nightmarish sound that has surely been spawned in some deep, dark abyss somewhere. Northless’ music gives off a very real sense of chaotic suffocation; a controlled chaos that sounds dangerous and is likely to leave scars. The riffs can be quite angular and atypical, with a slight blackened tinge and a surprising level of complexity on occasion.

The singer’s blunt snarls sound callous and almost inhuman, but with just enough uncaring humanity left in to be truly disturbing. He stands aloft, leading the punishing Sludge with unerring vision, firmly set on his grim task of spreading misanthropy.

With each song slowing things down that little bit more than the previous, Northless culminate in their final track Wasted Breath. This is the longest of the three and spends its time building inevitably to a harsh and powerful conclusion.

An exceptional split that showcases the many talents of two of Sludge/Doom’s brightest, (darkest?), lights.

Essential listening for all lovers of hatred, misery and heaviness.