Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Unholy Slough - Chthonic Ritual (2018)


This descent will take us impossibly deep into the bowels of a crypt long forgotten by God and man alike in order to gaze into the cold heart of eternity and try not to be driven mad in the process! You have been warned - this will be gruesome. After the demise of the warbling, water-logged stoner/doom act The Devil's Swamp, a new band arose from their tomb going by the name Unholy Slough. However, all the time spent in the grave means that the sound has decayed, becoming an especially grim mix of death, doom, and sludge that must have been burned dry in hellfire. The first track "Prologue" creates an eerie atmosphere that grows more harrowing with each passing minute building tension as you feel the air grow still and your heartbeat quicken. And then you find yourself in a world of terrifying misery as "Ritual" begins and the first, low, wretched shout engulfs you like a cloud of stale and putrid rot. Slow and bleak the song continues with riffs and an atmospheric synth that make you feel as though you're trudging through the catacombs with the tempo picking up only briefly so that the dead may taunt you. "SM" strikes even harder, picking up and echoing through the dark chamber and shaking the walls with an extra dose of gloomy brutality. The final track "The Last Chthonic Vision" reaches a grumbling, agonizing climax that crawls through a seemingly endless vortex of desolate, swirling death before abandoning you frantic and delirious in the depths of despair. Once this album has you there's no escape, so submit to the somber, unnatural growling in the darkness and embrace your cursed fate! -Brandon


No comments:

Post a Comment