In the Company of Serpents – Ain-Soph Aur (Review)

In the Company of SerpentsIn the Company of Serpents are a doom/sludge band from the US and this is their third album.

We’re familiar with the work of In the Company of Serpents from their 2014 EP Merging in Light. This  was a delightfully heavy and fuzzed-up example of pitch-black doom, and now the band have returned to once more pulverise everything before them, but this time in a slightly different way. Continue reading “In the Company of Serpents – Ain-Soph Aur (Review)”

Mares of Diomedes/Dreich – Split (Review)

Mares of Diomedes DreichThis is a split between two sludge/doom bands – Mares of Diomedes from Ireland and Dreich from Denmark.

Mares of Diomedes start us off with two songs of bastard-heavy metal, lasting 13 minutes.

This is fuzzed-up and harsh, with colossal riffs drenched in distortion being unleashed like they are going out of fashion. With Continue reading “Mares of Diomedes/Dreich – Split (Review)”

Organ – Tetro (Review)

OrganOrgan are an Italian Doom band. This is their début album.

Organ play a merging of Doom, Sludge and Psychedelic Metal.

A colossal, crushing sound heralds Tetro’s beginning, and this is a theme which is developed throughout. They’re not without their introspective moments, but the overall emphasis is on heavy atmospheres.

Speaking of atmosphere, Organ have it in buckets. Or rather, waves, as the onslaught of heaviness seems to internally generate its own ecosystem which bleeds out of the speakers like controlled tsunamis of density.

Relentless, repetitive rhythms drive the music forward, while dark vocals seem to lurk just beneath the surface. Harsh screams and cleaner vocals both have a place on this record, although the singer’s voice is used like an additional instrument to merely enhance the power and focus of the main musical maelstrom.

A roiling, churning beast of an album. It’s relatively short for this kind of release at ‘just’ over half an hour in length, but it packs a lot of punches into that time and Tetro is a very worthwhile listen for anyone into layered, atmospheric Doom.

For fans of Om, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Yob, In the Company of Serpents, Ufomammut, Generation of Vipers, etc.

In the Company of Serpents – Merging in Light (Review)

In the Company of SerpentsIn the Company of Serpents are from the US and this is their latest EP. They play Doom/Sludge.

Just three tracks and over 21 minutes of heavy, heavy music; In the Company of Serpents play tar-black Doom with an emphasis on riffs and a crushing delivery.

The vocals sound anguished and tormented, like some damned soul released from Hell just long enough to tell everyone how bad it is. Rough and mournful.

The fuzzy guitars propel the tracks forward and the band know a good riff when they hear one. The colossal weight of the guitars drowns everything else out; the rest sound like a mere afterthought.

The songs sound like demented Black Sabbath tracks that have been left to fester and then, when they’re at their most ripe, covered in a layer of Sludge so thick that only the guitars are recognisable.

In the Company of Serpents are always an enjoyable band whenever I encounter them and this EP is no different. Like a car crash of Black Sabbath, High on Fire, Generation of Vipers and filthy Sludge Metal in general; they deliver the goods, although they may be a bit reeking and despoiled by the time they get to you.

Recommended.