Abysmal Grief - Blasphema Secta (2018)

Abysmal Grief. Even if I don't stick the word "fucking" in the middle, it's an evocative name with an inherent power behind it. It screams of misery beyond normal convention - an inner darkness that could only be unearthed by extreme measures. I've been an Abysmal Grief fan for several years now and their music has always lived up to their name. Their fifth full-length album "Blasphema Secta" is no exception - it's the first album I was looking forward to this year and it's lived up to all my expectations and then some. This is scathing doom metal heavy with the atmosphere of a gothic horror as though the sound was born in the middle of a thunderstorm at a Transylvanian castle. The 3 and a half minute introduction plays chilling synthesized strings and organ over a sea of ambient sounds including a crackling fire and blowing winds that will come to bookend each track. It establishes an air of sophistication and terror right away and builds tension before gliding into the second track "Behold The Corpse Revived". It starts with a forlorn violin, but then with the chime of a bell and a wretched scream, the coffin lid is ripped off and the decent into darkness truly begins. The violin will resurface periodically throughout the rest of the piece as the drums pound a steady, even-keeled assault, the keys sing out with sinister intent, and the guitar growls like it's ready to bite you at any moment. Entwined in this malevolent mix are the vocals which command your attention with a sepulchral rasp. Eventually this song gives way to a the third track "Maleficence" blasting an eerie keyboard melody and grizzly rhythms fit for a ballroom dance of the undead. The fourth track "Witchlord" is one that Abysmal Grief dragged up from deep within the crypt - it's actually a cover of a song by the now defunct Italian black metal band Evol. Consequently, you do hear black metal influence pushing through here - especially in the vocal performance - but it's still well in line with the other material on this album. You can feel the song stewing in hatred, but it calms itself for organ passages and some clean guest vocals. "When Darkness Prevails" is a more subtle tune than the rest with soft choirs and synth work that will make your hair stand on end - it's an opportunity to let the atmosphere soak in before the fury of the final track "Ruthless Profaners". This is an excellent song to end the album on as it feels like the culmination of everything that came before it. It's a decadently evil combination of haunting synth and organ, dark snarling metal, ritual chants, and harsh vocals that eventually closes with a piece that seems fit for a cathedral. Blasphema Secta is definitely an album I got lost in. I wanted to complain about how short it seemed, but when I checked the length it's a solid 45 minutes - I was just so engrossed in what I was hearing I didn't realize how much time had passed. This album is an absolutely incredible work - another awesome entry in Abysmal Grief's catalog. Highly recommended to anyone who hungers for darkness, horror, and doom!- Brandon
 

Absent - Towards The Void (2018)

On January 1st, 2018 Brazilian three piece Absent released their debut EP "Towards the Void" and set the bar extremely high for doom metal this year. The band chose the title well as each track feels like a slow march into the endless abyss, especially given the way the sound swirls with reverb. Songs will bulldoze you with a wall of overbearing somber riffage, but then pull back to leave you floating in a space that now feels very empty as distant psychedelic tunes aimlessly wander around you. When the vocals call out, it's like a trail of ghosts trying to reach you from dimensions unknown, helplessly urging you to turn back. Add to this some trippy guitar solos and bottomless echoes and you can definitely feel the music working its way into your head space. Plus a few chants strewn throughout breathe some eerie tones into it that keep you moving hypnotically towards the black. The only thing I'm unsure of with this release is why they've dubbed it an EP - clocking in at just over 40 minutes, this is as long as most full-length albums. But if what they're suggesting is that a future album will have even more material, I'm all for it! Towards the Void is one hell of a way to start the year and a recording career, so I'm looking forward to more of both! -Brandon

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Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - Decay and Other Hopes Against Progress (2017)

I wouldn't say this one slipped though the cracks for me. I just never got around to reviewing it. However after months of keeping it on the back burner as something I would like to review and recommend, I revisited this tasty sludge morsel, and sure enough I like it just as much as I did when I first listened to it. Maybe even more this time around!

I mean come on, look at their fucking name! They couldn't of picked a better name for themselves that sums up the dreadful doom and gloom that is their sound. Mixing Sludge Doom with a little bit of Post-Metal in there, Chained to the Bottom of The Ocean have waves of heavy riffage to drown you with. I think what I like the most about CTTBOTO is that they aren't trying to imitate anyone and that's pretty fucking amazing for a first release. I mean there's definitely hints of things here and there. I mean while they don't sound exactly like them, the only other Sludge band that comes to mind that is going along in a similar trajectory is Thou. They revel in detuned slow sludginess, but also have a hankering for non metal leanings as well. It's safe to say their pool of ideas is deep with vast influences. 

The strings on this have a really fat low end distorted sound, with tides of feedback and ghost trails of feedback to help create the threatening mood of duress and aquatic imprisonment. All of this kind of disappears when the band switches from all out aggression to Post Rock/Metal Exploration, relying more on dissonant atonal chord pairings using higher notes, rather than power chord drones. The vocals on this album, really fucking cut like rusty knife. Jagged, Primal, and Agonizingly Brutal, don't expect anything clean about the way they sound. Definitely a Black Metal quality to them. I think what's also interesting is that the vocals never change throughout this release. Not even for the aforementioned Post-Metal parts. 

Well, I really dug this album. I've listened to it a lot over the last couple of days while trying to prep for this review, and I feel like I missed the boat for not putting this on my best of list for 2017. CTTBOTO deliver on their first album what many bands strive to do on their third or fourth release. Who knows what the future brings for this band, but whatever it is, count me in! Cheers! -Samir

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Pulsar - Dark Universe Arise (2017)

Transmitting across deep space frequencies from a forgotten corner of the galaxy is Pulsar. This band of German cosmonauts has been traveling between the stars and gathering material of interstellar origins in order to produce the massive sound on their debut release "Dark Universe Arise". This album features fuzzy doom metal that wavers all over the cosmos before crashing on your ears and bursting into a haze of extraterrestrial dust. They've drawn plenty of inspiration from Electric Wizard, but exposed it to space radiation and set it adrift in the quasi-psychedelic lights of a nebula resulting in a dense mass of doom metal on a galactic scale. There's a steady feed of low, rumbling riffs set across a background of crackling cosmic noise. The drummer periodically goes wild on the cymbals and it's like a series of explosions driving the music into your mind. Vocally, it's a mix of distant, despondent cries and impassioned, aggressive shouts that fit the sound perfectly. Toss in a few movie quotes picked up from neighboring frequencies you've got yourself some super massive doom tunes that will swallow you like a black hole. I don't think it needs much more qualification than that - I highly recommend you let these guys transport you to the dark parts of the universe where their wicked music was born. -Brandon
 

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Floaters - Waiting For Amnesty (2017)

I think this is an album that slipped under everybody's radar with its release right at the end of 2017 - or at least I assume so, because if people had heard this one I think they'd be going nuts for it! Ripping out of the underbelly of Tokyo, Japan is a band called Floaters with their absolute monster of a debut album "Waiting For Amnesty". Creating a satisfyingly grotesque amalgamation of stoner, sludge, and doom the trio pounds out gnarly tunes that will eat through flesh and bone. Songs generally start out slow with abrasive sounds that will peel back layers of skin, but then move into faster, headbanging stoner riffs that are teeming with swagger - you're getting the best of both worlds here. On top of the band's harsh tone the vocalist pulls out delightfully nasty shouts to make sure that the album retains a hard edge and a nice sour flavor even through sweet stoner-doom grooves. It's a great album for the wretched slime waiting the darkness, writhing and agitated, ready to dissolve anyone it touches with an acidic embrace. Don't skip out on this one! Oh, and if you're staring at the wild cover art and want to know what the creature sounds like, check out the intro to track 7 - I'm pretty sure that's its mating call. -Brandon
 

Su19b - Neutralize (2018)

This will be my second review of the week featuring a grind band from Japan. Unlike Friendship (who was the band I reviewed on Wednesday) Su19b revel in the slime and the muck, as their slow sewage like sludge riffs cake the tracks from their newest release "Neutralize". If anything needs to be neutralized it's the noxious stench fuming from this rotten and repulsive sounding release. It's disgusting, and I really dig it. I think what I really like is the fact that these dudes actually sound like they're playing grind riffs at sluggish time consuming pace. However it doesn't take long before these guys pick up the pace and we're treated to blast beats, d-beats, and OSDM-esque fast beats. Su19b is like the nasty result if Napalm Death an Corrupted had given birth to a demon spawn. This shit is heavy as fuck by the way.
The guitar/bass sound is just fat and bloated like a water logged corpse in a decrepit humid swamp. This is dinner music for maggots. It seems to work with both the slow and the fast stuff. While the blast parts seem to get a little lost in the mix, once they hit that d-beat, it's hard to resist banging your head along with their infectious grooves. The vocals on this release are quite sickening to say the least. This dude has has a death growl that is reduced to a gurgle and it sounds like this dude invoked an evil spirit that has taken over his body and is doing the talking for him from now on.
Overall, this band delivers when it comes to grimy and filthy sounding tunes. Their hideous and revolting dirges left me feeling pretty satisfied. Plus I mean look at their fucking album art! What do you expect this shit to sound like?I was pleased with this release, and I think you should give it a go if you like a little grind with your charred blackened sludge. I like it! Keep it gross! Cheers! -Samir
 

Doomstress - Supernatural Kvlt Sounds - The Second Rite (2017)

Beneath a black mantle Doomstress performs a dark ceremony dubbed "Supernatural Kvlt Sounds - The Second Rite". The original Supernatural Kvlt Sounds first saw release back in 2016, but now with an updated mix, new artwork, and a whole extra track The Second Rite unfolds and has YOU chained to the sacrificial altar! Filled with female-fronted heavy doom with traditional metal influences thrown in, this release comes stomping through the night with a good dose of mysticism. It drives forward with steady, hard rocking force as mysterious elements creep in to give tracks a hint of occult magic. In addition to three original songs there are also two covers on here that Doomstress drags into the shadows. I love Uriah Heep so hearing Rainbow Demon get doom-ified is amazing - I had no idea how well it would work. The way it gleams with dark majesty is more than I could have hoped for. On Wicked Woman the band trades in Coven's original late 60s twang for some heavy metal chug resulting in a unique take that drives the song to new depths. Good stuff here, so when you listen to it, turn your speakers up - this is the kind of music that needs to be played loud! -Brandon

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