by joseangeles@muchomail.com
I never expected a ridiculously heavy, ultra slow doom/death band to come out of Razorback, a label known for its fast grinding bands. No one track outshines everything in this album. Every song has its place on the CD and each creates a dark atmosphere that slowly crashes riff after riff. As the sludgy gloom fills up the sound, there are occasional bursts into memorable thick slabs of death metal tunes.No fancy solos or pop jingles, this is raw uncompromising crushing gloom and doom in its purest form. For a band that doesn’t throw a million riffs around, they know how to carry their heavy weight around and keep it interesting. The delivery of each concussion-inducing riff is perfect, you’re given enough time to absorb the reverb and aftermath of each hit. As for the vocals, it’s solid deep guttural growls, which resembles the vocal stylings in goregrind if they were executed at a faster pace.
I’m a sucker for doom bands like this. They don’t go all out with the technical abilities yet I stop and analyze every second and every sound created. The beauty in this stuff is that they utilize each stinging reverb to induce a shocking effect on the ear drums. The noise is simple, chaotic, and yet controlled. If you dig doom bands like Khanate, Bethlehem, Burning Witch, Autopsy, Incantation, Boris, Morgion, Hellhammer, YOB, eyehategod, Grief, Dream Death, Winter, and even Melvins go out and get this thing already. 9/10.