Bloodmoon / Trapped Within Burning Machinery - Split EP (2017)

Here's one I've been meaning to get to for a while. This split with Bloodmoon and Trapped Within Burning Machinery is killer. It's only two songs, but nothing on here is less than 10 minutes. Bloodmoon (who features Peter Tomis from Disgusted Geist, another great Sludge band who we reviewed earlier this year) combine Doom and Sludge with Atmospheric and Gothic elements as well, creating something that is both monstrous yet haunting at the same time. "Nothing is Special, Nobody Cares", comes in swinging with a vengeance , but then unravels into a reflective moment of clarity. The band's more progressive tendencies emerge about halfway through, as the song gets a second breath, ending the song with an impressive finish that seems almost completely different than where they started, but still fucking awesome. Trapped Within Burning Machinery's contribution "Abysswalker" is a slow burn that starts off brooding, with a rumbling bass line, and spectral ambiance, before it unleashes a fiery flame, churning along with amassed hatred, in a repetitive and almost meditative fury. TWBM weave a Blackened Doom web, that's modern but more traditional than they let on in the beginning. Filthy vocals ravage beastly riffs as they lumber along in an abysmal state (much like the song title suggests). It's sorrowful and gloomy, and it paints a dark picture of a world covered in ash, grey skies, dead trees, and nothing human in sight. Both songs complement each other while both having something different to bring to this release, making it both devastating and unique. Spend 30 minutes in hell, with these dudes. You won't regret it. Cheers! -Samir

Bloodmoon's Facebook

TWBM's Facebook

71TONMAN - Earthwreck (2017)

Listening to 71TONMAN is like getting hit with a 71 ton sledge hammer, or even being toppled and then buried with 71 tons of brick. These guys are fucking heavy, and their brand of primal concrete sludge does not disappoint. The riffs are devastatingly memorable and come swinging in like a wrecking ball, leaving destruction and ruin in its path. There is a thick layer of filth these tunes are slathered in as well. Everything from the strings to the sickening vocals are strewn with impure grime and nastiness. Each song is a like a rotten blackened dirge, oozing forth a scummy muck of sludge metal viciousness. Just like the band's bandcamp describes them, they are definitely "fat, low, and slow". I'm sold. Of course there are other adjectives to describe them. Bleak is definitely a word that comes to mind. Their album art and song titles paint a picture of a world drained of its color, and that's what you get here as well. It's cold and harsh, but this is where a lot of the good Sludge Doom comes from. A place that is grief stricken with zero hope for humanity. Like I said, I'm sold and I think you'll be too. Cheers! -Samir

71TONMAN's Facebook

R.I.P. - Street Reaper (2017)

Last year, Portland maniacs R.I.P. smashed down cemetery gates with their debut album "In The Wind". It was so nice, they had to release it twice - the first time on Totem Cat Records and then again on RidingEasy! Seeing no reason to slow down, the band revved their engines and now they're roaring through the graveyard with their second effort "Street Reaper". This album is simultaneously occult and motorized - it's drowning in all the darkness of early doom, humming with a sense of evil and dread, but then kicks in this dirty vigor that will get you ready to riot. It's fuzzed up, fueled by rock 'n' roll energy, and absolutely electric with songs of death and terror. The sound is practically shaking with a buzzing distortion and the vocals wail madly - it demands to be played loud. The guys in R.I.P. call their style street doom. Musically it really seems to go back to the primitive roots of doom metal and re-invent the wheel from there, injecting some nasty attitude along the way. Listening to this shit feels like cruising a rocky road paved with human bone - and I want to ride it to the end, baby!

R.I.P.'s Facebook

Ember - 271 EP (2017)

Ember from Birmingham, Alabama are back to set your mind adrift with their second EP, "271". Featuring three tracks of slow, ethereal doom, the new release makes you feel as though you're floating through a gloomy dreamscape. While the band's first EP had a sludgy crunch to it, the songs here are much smoother, featuring some serene shoegazing twang that will send you into a swirling ether. This sound bleeds into a churning, dynamic doom that shifts seamlessly between a quiet simmer and a thick lumbering creep, carefully morphing from one state to another. Don't let the dreamy tones deceive you - the music has a hefty undercurrent ready to drag you down anytime it slips into a heavy rhythm. At the center of all of this are the hypnotic female vocals that run through each track like a spectral river. They come in gentle and airy, soothing your soul, but then surge with a consummate power. The resulting music is a unique and masterfully executed. When you hear this album, it's as though you're drifting among black clouds, tranquil until the winds swell and the skies groan. -Brandon

Ember's Facebook

The Black Sound - Argestonia (2017)

I kinda feel like once Halloween comes and goes, the next couple months go by in a blur. Before you know it, you have Thanksgiving, you do Christmas, and then just like that it's 2018. We started this blog at the end of 2016 so we're coming up on our one year anniversary. I knew there would be a point where I might start reviewing stuff we missed throughout the year for whatever reason, and this is definitely one of those releases. For whatever reason, I don't recall seeing anything about "Argestonia" in February or March, but had I did, we would've reviewed it sooner. 

Right off the bat you'll notice The Black Sound's fat fuzzed out sound. It's thick and meaty, and it's a great sound for a Stoner Doom band. Clocking in at around 12 minutes, you get nothing but a lava infused, reefer maddening, doom-laden riff fest. Like a bearded stoner accidentally lighting his facial hair on fire while lighting up for another toke, this shit is both fiery and toasty. Their slow and steady grooves resonating from their orange amps will have you seeing visions of purple and green rather than black. 

The singer in this band has got a really nice voice. It's sort of gravelly and slightly harsh. It kinda reminds me of "Dixie" Dave from Weedeater but not quite. I would say it's definitely in the same vein, but not like a total rip off or a duplicate of what "Dixie" does. Like mentioned above, the guitars are fat and beef with the cowhide still intact for all that extra fuzz. It's thick like a cloud of weed smoke, and dank like the basement you're getting stoned in. Or at least it's the type of environment well suited for this sound. The bass creeps in here and there, while the drums bring the crackle and roar with the thunder and lightning. 

The Black Sound definitely play low and slow, with a drunken whiskey soaked blues swagger, and a dope fueled haze in their eyes. Too bad "Argestonia" couldn't be any longer. Not that the songs needed to be longer, but it definitely leaves you wanting some more songs from these dudes. Hopefully we'll be writing about The Black Sound again in 2018, if they have plans to release more stuff. Cheers! -Samir

The Black Sound's Facebook

PS: This is a little out of the ordinary for me to write something like this, but something out of the ordinary happened to me this past weekend. I discovered (as some of you may have noticed on our Facebook page) that I was banned from posting and/or commenting in groups for a whole week. I wasn't given specific details on how or why, but I'm assuming it had to do something with me posting two reviews back to back, and someone reported me for spam. we get most of our readers through posting in Facebook groups. Right now it is simply the easiest way to reach a large amount of people. We do not need hundreds and hundreds of readers to click on our posts to inflate our egos here. We simply do this for free to support and share bands we give a shit about. However, the more readers we do get, increases the chances we might turn them on to something they weren't aware of before reading, and could direct their traffic to the band's Facebook page where the band might get some followers as a result. I personally do most of the leg work for distribution, and banning me pretty much cuts those legs from underneath us. If I get put in FB jail again, I will come up with some sort of back up plan, but for the time being I will just say this. If you're reading this and you're the one who reported me, do me a favor and block me, or if you're an Admin for a group who reported me, remove me from your group. You don't even have to tell me you did it! Keep it anonymous! I don't give a fuck! Thanks! -Samir

Clouds Taste Satanic - The Glitter of Infinite Hell (2017)

Brooklyn-based instrumental doom quartet Clouds Taste Satanic are here to drag us into the abyss with their fourth studio album, "The Glitter of Infinite Hell". This one is comprised of four tracks that are as colossal as they are sinful, each clocking in at about 18 minutes a piece! With length like that, it's definitely a slow burn (perhaps eternal?), but these aren't the types of songs that linger in one spot, droning on, trying to stretch out a single idea for as long as possible. Each one is a tour of the profane, slithering through the underworld and groaning with the strains of the damned. The first track "Greed" conjures visions of crossing the river Styx, opening the gates of hell, and being exposed to some of the initial horrors. Then "Treachery" creeps in quietly before bursting with a churning and crunching, like demons whipping at hordes of souls bound in chains as they turn a great wheel. With each passing song more THC seems to seep in and you'll hear more stoner influence atop the cruel snarl of evil. The third track "Violence" is where this starts to become apparent with streaks of groove and warm, smoky jams mixed in amid the torment. "Wrath" continues the trend and closes the album - the denizens of hell are probably well baked at this point (in more than one way) and all hope is lost in a pleasantly dark haze. This is an awesome trip through the pit so check it out! -Brandon
 

Clouds Taste Satanic's Facebook

I, Forlorn - My Kingdom Eclipsed (2017)

Out of the Netherlands comes a one-man project that touches at the heart of despair - I, Forlorn. The debut album "My Kingdom Eclipsed" growls with a miserable kind of death/doom buried beneath layers of delicate keys, strings, and acoustic guitar - taking agony and painting over it with something majestic. Its foundations are built on an extreme and melancholic kind of doom but the more symphonic elements have taken root, growing both deep and wide, becoming entangled and transforming into an integral part of the sound. This stuff isn't just used for intros - it's intertwined everywhere, helping to reinforce the somber atmosphere and define sorrowful melodies alongside the guitar leads. These pieces are beautiful but that doesn't mean this album is gentle by any means. The vocals howl with a wretched rasp imbued with the flavor of hell and you'll hear black metal influence scattered throughout that keeps things coarse. The resulting balance is incredible with a near-perfect fusion of each style. In spite of the music's hopeless nature and lyrics that mostly deal with depression and loss, it swells to an almost epic tone at points and I get swept up in its dark glory repeatedly. This album is definitely worthy of your time so give it a listen! -Brandon
 

I, Forlorn's Facebook