Yob, Ecstatic Vision, Lazer/Wulf

March 18, 2015 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

I was so pumped for this show, and it turned out oh so good. One of the best I've been to in a long time.

Lazer/Wulf

I first saw these guys play over a year and a half ago, and it doesn't seem like much has changed—which I'd say is a good thing. They were just as good as I remember, if not maybe a little better. They're still playing the same progressive-djent-thrashy kind of stuff, and I might have even recognized a song or two (which always improves the concert experience, I find). They obviously still have a ton of fun playing and being on stage, so even if it's not quite the kind of music you're into, it's still a show that is worth checking out. I usually don't like when bands get a bit showy but Lazer/Wulf has a great sense of humor and self-awareness that keeps everything engaging.
7 • Best Guitar Face Award, Again

Ecstatic Vision

With their style of music and the rest of the show's lineup, Ecstatic Vision didn't have a chance of me liking them at all. And I didn't, really. Their sound is this sort of psychedelic stoner rock, which isn't really ever something I care much about or listen to, and yeah—I found them to be pretty boring. Their music seemed to be mostly a platform for the guitarist to play solos, which is usually only interesting for the guitarist. The drumming was pretty decent, with some tribal rhythms and some unique percussion voices. The bassist was doing his best to hold the other two together but unfortunately his material was so uninteresting I barely noticed he was even there. Bonus points, however, for the melodica, even though nobody could hear it.
5 • Best Rope Lights Award

Yob

I thought I overhyped this show in my head before I came, but it turned out to be one of the best sets I've ever seen, somehow. Despite that Yob plays a style (doom metal) that I don't listen to often and all their songs basically sound the same (even though I could recognize most of them), their live show was fantastic. They're probably the heaviest and loudest band I've seen yet; they do tune down to A but the bass response was incredible, organ-shattering stuff (thank god for earplugs). This, by the way, is how you do a guitar-led band correctly—have him play music that's actually interesting and nicely rhythmic so the drums and bass can support it properly. Yob has very simple drumming (it's basically just timekeeping) but he was still putting his all into playing well and matching the tone of the music. I was surprised at how fun a doom metal band can actually be to watch. Also, props for actually taking a request from the audience; I don't think I've actually seen anyone do that before.
9 • Corrupted Shirt Award

Something else neat: a couple of guys from Mouth of the Architect were there! (Makes sense since they live in Dayton which is only about an hour and a half away.) I only know of this because someone happened to notice my Mouth of the Architect shirt I got at the show they played here, so I stopped and shook hands said hello. Buncha cool guys.

Yob – Clearing the Path to Ascend

September 2, 2014 • Neurot Recordings

I don't listen to much doom metal, but when I do, it's usually Yob. Something about their style does it for me like few other doom bands can manage. Which is why I'm glad they've gotten back together (yeah, quite a few years ago now, but still) and are still cranking out high-quality music. This new one is certainly no exception.

Clearing the Path to Ascend is straight-up traditional Yob, pretty much the same thing as the band has always done: slow, plodding doom, with a spacey atmosphere, mystic overtones, and those great flanger-soaked clean guitar passages. Is it better than any of their other albums? I can't really say, but it's definitely not any worse. This album does have a lot going for it, especially for anyone who's never heard them before. The rhythms are especially great; there are times all over in every single track where it's hard not to nod along with the beat. And while Yob's vocal style took a while to grow on me, they might be at their best here—the high-pitched singing isn't quite as silly and the growls are fantastically brutal.

But as I said, it's still plain old Yob. There isn't much new here, so if (like me) you've already heard their back catalog there's no real reason to rush into this one with any urgency. But that's not to say it isn't worth listening to, or that it's completely generic or anything. I do enjoy how they broke the mold a little on "Nothing to Win" with its faster tempo, sludgy aesthetic, and urgent-sounding drums; it's definitely a nice change of pace. And the chord progression on "Marrow" has this great, epic, sort-of-uplifting feel to it that is a great way to close off the album. It might legitimately be their best song to date.

The now-ten-year-old The Illusion of Motion is probably still be their greatest album, but Clearing the Path to Ascend is definitely giving it a run for its money. Clearly this a band that, even after eighteen years, is still on top of their game.

Agalloch – The Serpent & the Sphere

May 13, 2014 • Profound Lore Records

Fifteen-year-old me would have been so excited right now. I don't really follow Agalloch anymore so I didn't realize this album was coming out until after it was released. It's good that I didn't actually get hyped for it because as it turns out there's nothing to get excited about on The Serpent & the Sphere.

Straight off the bat I realized that the band has somehow taken a step backward, and this is just another plain old Agalloch album. It sounds like a band just going through the motions instead of trying to actually innovate within their sound, which is weird considering that their last album Marrow of the Spirit was kind of a departure with the extra black metal influence instead of their usual folky doom. I thought they would build on that more, but there's really only one section (on "Celestial Effigy") that you could argue is black metal at all. Most of the music here is more like The Mantle in terms of sound, surprisingly enough; we're back to more acoustic guitars (and I mean lots of acoustic guitars) and slow doomy rock (let's be fair—there's some fast doomy rock too). But nothing particularly interesting happens, for the most part. There are a couple pretty good rockin' sections like the main riff of "The Astral Dialogue", but overall there isn't anything that really stands out in particular as being especially exciting if you've heard their older stuff.

No, it's not horrible; I didn't hate my time with this album and there was a good handful of parts of it I enjoyed. It's just that if it had come out maybe six years ago, when The Mantle was still one of my favorite albums, I'd've been a lot more receptive to The Serpent & the Sphere. But today it does nothing for me. Obviously that has a lot to do with my changing tastes in metal; there's loads of recent music like them that's way more interesting anyway and even that aside there's just no reason to when just about all of their other albums are better. While this album did grow on me a little on the second listen, it wasn't enough; I don't really see myself ever spinning this one again. At least, not for a while. Current fans will probably still get a kick out of it, though; it's just unfortunate that I don't really count myself among them anymore.

Indian – From All Purity

January 21, 2014 • Relapse Records

I haven't been as into sludge lately, as a lot of the stuff I've been finding over the last few years just doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to. But every once in a while I still find something phenomenal and worth commenting on. Lately it's been Indian's From All Purity, something quite different and fascinating.

Though when I call this sludge metal, that doesn't really paint the whole picture. This album is some of the most raw and abrasive sludge metal I've heard in a while—and I don't really mean that in a mixing / production sense; what I mean is that this music is goddamn furious. It doesn't just attack the listener; it sounds like it's trying to beat the listener's head into the sidewalk over and over, screaming all the way. I'm no masochist, but here it's something I can really get into.

And Indian is really good at it; when I listen to this album, I don't really hear songs: I just hear unbridled fury as dictated through tortured vocals, doomy guitar slams, and pounding drums. Sometimes I don't even notice when they slide into the pure noise track "Clarify", since its harshness fits in with the other music. The whole thing is oddly cathartic. I suppose that's why I enjoy it so much. It's especially odd since I usually dislike slow, plodding, seemingly-aimless doomy stuff, but here it is perfect.

It's still early, but From All Purity is shaping up to fall among the top sludge albums of this year. If you can handle the abuse, highly recommended.

Thou – Ceremonies of Humiliation

January 29, 2014 • Dead Tank Records

Is this really the same Thou that released the great album Summit? Because I really couldn't believe it at first; I thought this must have been a different band. This is because Ceremonies of Humiliation is simply a disaster.

Let's be clear, though: this isn't a regular album; this is (if I understand correctly) a compilation of tracks from various past splits and EPs from before Summit's release. So you can't really approach it in the same way you would a standard album, and it's all older material anyway.

Even putting that aside, I didn't enjoy a single minute of Ceremonies of Humiliation. Thou plays a very doom- and stoner-infused sludge metal: drawling, plodding, dark, and heavy. It's not my favorite kind of sludge, but the songs simply aren't good anyway. It just feels like there's no reason behind the song structures and the band just flounders around on weak riff after weak riff, going nowhere. Nowhere are the dynamics and interesting compositions I expected—just and endless string of notes and an insatiable desire to try to be "heavy" that they never really reach in a satisfying way. I think there's a point somewhere right between sludge metal and stoner metal that I inherently despise for some reason, and almost all of these songs hit that point on the nose.

And, by the way, this all goes on for an hour and a half. A full eighty-eight minutes, almost every one of them torturous. Normally I listen to any given release a handful of times before reviewing; I couldn't get through a second one with this.

Just stick to Summit (I checked; it's still a good album) and forget this thing ever existed.

Junius, A Storm of Light, Mockingbird

February 26, 2014 • Kobo Live, Columbus, Ohio

The number live shows I've been going to has been a bit disappointingly smaller than usual in the last few months. But I'm never opposed to going to a show where I've already seen the majority of the bands before (if I know they're good, anyway).

Mockingbird

I've seen these guys before and I was more than happy to see them again; they put on a great show. This time was definitely better than the first, as well. I think that since then they must have gotten some new songs written and, if so, they are a sure step up from what they played last year. It's a very heavy and headbangin' doom-sludge hybrid with fantastic riffing. Still some bad mic technique, but that's okay. Good technical playing all around, too, especially with bass and drums. I don't know how much they get around, since they're from Akron and I guess still a bit "local", but they're totally worth checking out.
7 • Still the Best Mutton Chops Award

A Storm of Light

I've only heard a couple of this band's songs before so my expectations of how this set was going to go were a little off. Despite the fact that this band's frontman has been in at least three other bands I'm a fan of (Red Sparowes, Battle of Mice, and Neurosis), and that I really wanted to like them, I just couldn't get into this show at all. They play a kind of alt-sludge style with a nice, heavy, powerful sound, but the riffs and songwriting just seemed a bit boring to me. Neat visuals on the projector, though; that did add to the show in an interesting way.
5 • Most Pedals (Like Seriously, Your Bassist Does Not Need Ten) Award

Junius

Like Mockingbird, I think Junius has gotten even better since the first time I saw them. They've put out quite a bit of new material since then, and the new stuff is really quite good. They're still harping their melodic-atmospheric-post-rock-metal-Khoma-Rosetta style, which of course is great, but there are a few songs that really rock out in a unique way. I really need to check out their latest album and EP at some point. Although, I have to say that the use of incredibly bright audience-facing lights is, while neat, really annoying for anyone standing near the front. Probably contributed to half of my headache.
9 • Still Very Fine Beards Award

Bonus: I noticed someone taping the first two sets; if I ever find them up on YouTube I might post them here as well.

Subrosa – More Constant than the Gods

September 17, 2013 • Profound Lore Records

Yes, new Subrosa! For anyone who doesn't remember, I raved about their last album No Help for the Mighty Ones, a masterpiece of doom metal, and naturally I was excited to hear something new from them. While doom metal still isn't something I ever got into very much, Subrosa has bucked the trend and put out some really great music, and with More Constant than the Gods they certainly haven't gotten much worse.

The formula is pretty much the same: heavy and plodding doom metal with the occasional sludge and stoner influences, but very melodic at the same time—clean vocals, some actually catchy riffs, the occasional violin, some folky elements as well (like the entirety of "No Safe Harbor" and whatever the heck that pipe thing is in "Ghosts of a Dead Empire"). Despite this, it still retains a more typical doom atmosphere of being somewhat suffocating and claustrophobic, despite the generally clean and accessible production. I am a bit disappointed to hear the harsh vocals completely gone, as it was a really interesting element to their sound (especially when the vocals aren't particularly interesting in their own right).

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not quite as enthralled with the songwriting as strongly as I did with their last one. There's far too much of the same brooding chugging-on-the-root-note going on and not as much variation on that. The fact that these are slightly longer songs, with slightly fewer of them, probably contributes to that feeling. It's a bit of a detriment to my enjoyment of the album as it's a little too easy to get bored with some of the more repetitive sections; I feel like most of these songs should have been maybe half as long as they were. Or maybe it's just coincidence that the shortest song "Cosey Mo" is also the best? I don't know.

But no, it's certainly not a bad album. I probably wouldn't even call it a misstep; just not as good as No Help for the Mighty Ones. And that's totally fine, some people will like one and some people will like the other. Either way, this is definitely one worth checking out.

6

Mouth of the Architect, Before the Eyewall, Beggars, War Elephant

August 31, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

War Elephant

Two-man doom, thunderous metal. Mostly slow, pounding jams with a bit of black metal thrown in to keep things interesting. The mix was terrible so I couldn't tell what the guitar was doing at all for the whole set (the overdone reverb effects didn't help), but it was definitely interesting for the standard obscure-local-metal act. At least they live up to their name.
6 • Most Metal Hairdos Award

Beggars

Normally, I'm not one to enjoy much stoner metal or bluesy rock, but for some reason I really enjoyed these guys. Really groovy and catchy stuff with an old-school rock and roll flair to it, like a stoner version of Kvelertak or something. Probably not a band I'd go out and see on purpose, but it was still a pretty fun set. Clip
7 • Most Shirtless Award

Before the Eyewall

I'm not really too sure what I thought about these guys. They were more of a post-rock outfit, or at least one that focused a lot more on ambience and buildup, so much so that the short, heavier sludgy climaxes didn't seem to be sufficient payoff. Not to say they were bad; I did like the noise/ambient stuff and when they did bring out the heavy riffs, it was pretty good, but the overall balance seemed a bit boring (especially coming after Beggars).
6 • Most Baffling Use of Trumpet Award

Mouth of the Architect

It's always hard to describe the set of a band I already know really well, even ones like this who I haven't listened to in a long time. Still one of the best atmospheric sludge bands of all time, and seeing them live was even better than hearing them on CD. I especially liked how they played mostly older material, so there was a good bit of it I recognized, which always makes it easier to get really absorbed in what's going on. Anyway, definitely a great set and a band worth seeing.
8 • Best Beards Award (Sorry Junius)

Kylesa, Blood Ceremony, White Hills, Lazer/Wulf

June 8, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

My fourth trip to Ace of Cups; I think they've become my favorite venue in the area, not only for the good selection of bands, but also because they now have waffle fries.

Lazer/Wulf

This isn't the only time I've enjoyed the first band of the night more than any other (spoiler alert), but it's certainly a rare occasion. Despite their silly name, Lazer/Wulf turned out to be an incredible band. The played some long mostly-instrumental sludgy-math-metal pieces, a style that falls somewhere between Mastodon and Battles. While a blatant disregard for time signatures and conventional rhythm seems like risky business at this sort of show, their music was interesting and engaging 100% of the way through. Great stage presence, as well; these guys have real technical skill and played brilliantly.
7 • Best Guitar Face Award

White Hills

I'd like to give White Hills the benefit of the doubt and say that Lazer/Wulf was just a hard act to follow, but man is it hard to find much good to say about these guys. They play some sort of psych rock, but it's boiled down to extremely simple and repetitive songs (and I mean that—just playing one note over and over is barely a song) with lots of fuzz distortion and reverb. Nothing original, nothing new, nothing that hasn't been done before forty years ago. The band seemed more concerned about their appearance and stage gimmicks. Give me a break.
4 • Most Irritating Smoke Machines Award

Blood Ceremony

While Blood Ceremony was a step up from the last set, they still weren't anything to write home about in my book. Their music is basically Black Sabbath with a bit of Jethro Tull mixed in, and literally nothing else. I suppose it would have been a neat and novel sound if it were still the '70s, but I'm pretty sure it's not. To me their songs were pretty safe and boring, rehashing the same riffs and lyrical material. And yes, maybe the flute is cool for a bit, but you do not need ten flute solos on every song.
5 • Highest Ratio of Songs About Witchcraft to Songs About Other Things Award

Kylesa

And Kylesa was... Kylesa. As usual with the headliner, there isn't a whole lot to say about their performance. I actually haven't listened to the band in a long time so I didn't quite remember what they sound like, which is apparently a bit more psychedelic than I remember. That could also have been from the muddy and disappointing mix, though they still rocked pretty hard, and the solid and heavy rhythm section held things together more than enough to make the show worthwhile. Full set (that's me in the front somewhere)
6 • Most Drummers After the Melvins Show Award

By the way (and I can't believe I still have to say this): Have some common courtesy when moving to a new place to stand at a show. I saw multiple people tonight walk up and stand right in front of someone else without even looking around. (I was a victim of this myself. Figures.) People want to watch the show, not have to deal with looking around your stupid head.

Melvins

May 28, 2013 • A&R Music Bar, Columbus, Ohio

I've never been much into Melvins, especially compared to most sludge/doom fans, but I figured I shouldn't pass up on an opportunity to see a band considered by so many to be legendary and hugely influential. I remembered a little too late that I don't actually like Melvins as much as I thought I did. Sure, they have some good stuff (like (A) Senile Animal) but I was never a big fan of their slow, drone-doomy material.

The show in general was a mixed bag: some of that slow, drone-doomy stuff, and some faster songs as well. Unfortunately most of what I saw at A&R was the former, and I wasn't taken with it. During the longer songs it got very repetitive, to the point where I got bored more than a few times (entertaining myself by seeing if the two drummers would hit the cymbal they shared at the same time). It didn't help that I only recognized perhaps one song (although, again, I don't listen to them much). I did enjoy when they did pull out the faster songs, which I could get into; there just wasn't enough of that. The sound was good, though; even with earplugs it was quite loud (though I felt like I heard more of it through my body than my ears, with all the bass frequencies going on). And to be fair, there were plenty of other people there who were enjoying it, and it's obviously a matter of personal preference, but my impressions weren't great.

Speaking of other people, Melvins have some real asshole fans. I guess any semi-famous band gets its share, but come on, have some sense of respect for others' personal space. And put a shirt on. Goddamn.

So after nearly two hours, I had had my fill, so I left (only the second show I've ever left early). But I had good reason. Tune in next time to read why in our exciting conclusion!
5 • Best Wizard Robe Award

Floor, Thrones, Mockingbird

April 4, 2013 • Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio

I got a little too excited when I heard Floor had reunited after several years, as successor band Torche has long been a favorite for me and I saw them play last fall. It turns out it's not a temporary one-off thing, as they're apparently going to record a new album, but I'm glad I went to the show anyway, as it was definitely a good one.

Mockingbird

These guys were surprisingly good. They played some typical stoner/doom, which was deceptively simple stuff at first, but turned into some surprisingly complex and intricate metal. They start with some pretty basic chunky riffs, but add some neat polyrhythms, odd time signatures, and some highly varying song structures. Special props to the drummer, who really knew what he was doing and was interesting to watch. It's probably a good thing that their stuff was mostly instrumental as the vocalist/guitarist didn't seem to know how to use a mic. Entire set
7 • Best Mutton Chops Award

Thrones

Before the show started I only knew two things about Thrones—it's a one-man project, and he has a huge lumberjack beard—and one of those wasn't even true. But for a one-man project he put on an interesting show for sure. The setup was one bass guitar, one drum machine, and some effects pedals; as simple as that. The focal point was the basswork, and did he ever beat that bass harder than I've ever see anyone play—I don't think I've ever seen anyone manage to get pinch harmonics out of a bass. The use of effects was nice, resulting in a good huge heavy sound. The music itself wasn't the greatest, though, and for the most part I didn't really enjoy the songs at all. They were seemingly structureless and impossible to follow, just notes following each other with no context. I guess I was in the minority of people who didn't care for the songs, though. Entire set
5 • Most Awkward Moments When You Just Stand There as the Sampler Plays Award

Floor

An excellent show, as I had expected. If you didn't already know, it'd be hard to tell that Floor broke up around ten years ago, as their performance was spot-on. As with Torche, it was a pretty energetic show for such a doomy band and you could tell they were simply having fun together again. It was nice to hear a some old stuff I recognized mixed with some new material, which was about just as good as they've ever been (though they have always had the occasional boring tune that's just pounding that low note over and over). I hadn't actually listened to them in a while and their material was a bit more diverse than I remember—some Torche-style stoner, some doom, even a couple hardcore bits, surprisingly. All in all, a worthwhile show; I'm glad to see they're back and it's like nothing has changed. Entire Set
8 • Lowest Tuning Award

Vattnet Viskar, Black Table, VYGR, Meadowhoof

March 21, 2013 • Kobo Live, Columbus, Ohio

I actually bought a ticket to this show basically on a whim when I saw it come up in my email, thinking that even though it's two bands that I'd never heard of at least it would be interesting to go to. Only an hour or so before I left did I even notice VYGR was going to be on the bill, a band I've been a mild fan of for years and whose debut EP is a long-standing favorite. Anyway, Kobo was a new venue for me—it's essentially a tiny bar, one that definitely wasn't built with having a stage in mind, it seems; though I suppose that since the crowd was so small (no more than forty people in the building at once, it felt like) it worked out okay. And it was definitely one of the better shows I've been to.

Meadowhoof

These guys are a newish, very obscure local band playing intricate, sludgy doom metal. One guitarist, one drummer, one vocalist, and they weren't bad. The guitar used an octavizer and consequently had a huge and heavy sound, which was neat, and the riffs and drums got nicely groovy. A good sound, but the vocalist left a bit to be desired (most of the time he just stood there, and I didn't care much for his screams).
5 • Most Out-of-Place Blastbeat Section Award

VYGR

It was no surprise to me that VYGR played the best show of the night; helping immensely was that they closed off their set with my favorite song of theirs, "Surfacing", from their debut EP. I wasn't a huge fan of their full-length album but maybe they're just a lot better live than in the studio (or the tracks off their new split are just that good). Heavy as heck, great atmosphere, etc.; it was too bad that they seemed a bit under-appreciated by the audience (who was presumably mostly there for the headliner).
8 • Best Mutton Chops Award

Black Table

These guys were also better than I had hoped. I sampled their EP over the last couple of weeks and had liked it—a very technical and complex sort of proggy-black metal—though they're even better live. Watching them play was a real treat; the main guitarist, bassist, and drummer are all incredibly talented and it's always interesting to see people play challenging material like that. I can't say as much for the vocalist/guitarist; her vocals weren't great on the EP and weren't much better live. Points for effort, though. Still, a highly entertaining and satisfying set.
8 • Best Bass Fingertapping Award, Like Seriously, That Was Awesome

Vattnet Viskar

Come to think of it, the majority of punk and metal shows I go to turn out that I really enjoy one or two of the supporting acts and the headliner is just okay. Vattnet Viskar was good, don't get me wrong, just not quite as good as the two that came before them. Stripped-down, raw black metal, a wall of constant noisy tremolo riffs and blasting, broken occasionally by some doomier sections. Honestly it's pretty typical material, but they did perform quite well and I warmed up to them, especially the somewhat cathartic end of the set.
7 • Most Honest Use of Vocal Reverb Award*

*"to mask my shittiness" (not a direct quote)

Vit – -

August 18, 2010 • Music Ruins Lives

I don't remember how I came across Ohio band Vit, but I've had this album kicking around in my library without rating it for two years, so it's time it got its due. And it's now understandable how this happened: there is a weird class of albums that aren't quite good and aren't quite bad and I can never really get my head around them enough to analyze them; - is definitely one of those albums.

Vit plays a pretty diverse sort of black metal, taking influences from both the first and second waves, injecting it with plenty of doomy and folky tendencies as well, with some cool extras like the banjo in "Ascension Ritual" and the folky interludes such as that in "Perennial Collapse". But Vit never really feels like they know what kind of music they want to play, making - feel a bit disjointed—there is a definite shift each track between different styles of metal (specifically, the odd-numbered tracks are black metal and the even-numbered ones are doom, aside from the last one—it's pretty weird).

The songwriting is definitely the key weakness on this album; the band has good ideas but doesn't seem to know how to put them together in a way that makes a whole lot of sense, leaving the listener lost more often than should happen. The aesthetic and performance is there, and that's all fine, but the music can still be a bit tough to listen to. The songs don't have much in the way of compositional dynamics (no buildups/climaxes), which is normally not a problem but I feel like this album seems a bit bland without them.

It's not a bad debut, and I really want to like Vit, but they have a ways to go from here. I haven't heard their more recent EP, so all of this might be completely pointless, but as it stands this album is worth a listen—just one without raised expectations.

5

Lento – Anxiety Despair Languish

October 26, 2012 • Denovali Records

Lento's debut Earthen was one of those albums that helped define my early music tastes—a healthy if typical combination of sludge and post-rock that I would use as a benchmark for many similar albums to come. As time has passed Lento has moved on from that and it's tough to say if it's something they should have done, and my feelings about Anxiety Despair Languish are still a bit mixed.

Lento's style is still in the same ballpark as it's always been, admittedly, but the band has noticeably changed how it's presented and composed. Rather than slow-burning doomy tracks, things move at a brisker pace with some prominent melodies and riffs that fly by. All the songs are quite short—only one goes over four minutes—which took me by surprise at first.

But to be honest I'm not that pleased on the whole with the way Lento's sound has changed. Rather than thought-out songs, we get more of bite-sized bits of music, each holding only a few ideas in them. To me it all sounds very disorganized—the different sections often don't lead into each other well and are almost disorienting in how often things change up. The track "Death Must Be the Place" is a good example: chunky, angular riffs open the track, but lead into some weird half-measure blastbeat sections (why are those even there?), then suddenly some lonely acoustic guitar, then to a straightforward groove section. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.

Of course the whole album isn't quite as bad as that one; the title track turned out to be one of my favorites: it has a great heavy and pounding mood to it, while still being catchy and memorable. "A Necessary Leap" manages to take the multi-section thing and do a good job at it, but unfortunately it's a bit of an exception.

I don't want to seem too negative—after all, this album is pretty decent—so I should mention that, as always, Lento has plenty of great ideas. The vast majority of short sections are fine—at any given point during the album I'm probably enjoying what I'm hearing. It's just that the overall execution really needs some work. There's a reason atmospheric sludge and doom have long songs—it's simply best that way! Still, it's an interesting experience, if nothing else; perhaps Lento is trying to steer the genre in a new direction, which is admirable (after all, it could use one).

5

Coffinworm – Great Bringer of Night

May 25, 2012 • Flenser Recordings

It usually takes a top-quality band to produce a demo worth making into a full-fledged release. Great Bringer of Night's tracks originally appeared on their demo and have received a remastering treatment from none other than James Plotkin. The band does indeed sound miles better because of it, though it's arguable whether it was worth remastering in the first place.

Coffinworm has a very slow, plodding sludge/doom hybrid sound, although it has a very dirty and angular edge to it accentuated by a bit of black metal and punk influence here and there. The guitar riffs and vocals can sound very tortured at times, and the repetitive and somewhat groovy drums accentuate this. It's an interesting style, although nothing particularly unique (in fact I could probably repeat my Inter Arma review here and it would describe Coffinworm equally well).

Unfortunately there is a bit too much plodding for their own good. Many of the tracks seem to stomp along aimlessly in blind frustration and tension without release. They do pull off a good style contrast with the faster songs, namely "Start Saving for Your Funeral" and "Spitting in Infinity's Asshole", which are consequently the two better songs; still, the songwriting feels very lacking with a lot of repetition and passages that go nowhere.

It's not a horrible experience, of course. The band is proficient and they really aren't that bad, even if it is tough to pay attention to what's going on most of the time. My ultimate recommendation for Coffinworm is to move on. You probably have a good thing going but you are dwelling on these same tracks too much—after all, this is the third time you've put them out (demo, first album, demo re-release). Write something new, something different, and leave your demo tracks behind you. It's okay to let go.

5

Ahab – The Giant

May 25, 2012 • Napalm Records

I remember first hearing The Call of the Wretched Sea and being thoroughly impressed by it: for me, it was something new, a dark voyage through the most heavy and despairing funeral doom metal. It opened me up to a lot of similar bands as well, so I have them to thank for that. But something must have happened between their debut and The Giant (I admit I skipped their second album), because this album doesn't come close to the same level their debut did.

While Ahab still brings the doom, they seem to be trying to jump on the post-metal bandwagon, of all things; there are plenty of delay-laden clean passages, lots of lighter melodies, and lots of clean singing while some of the heavier parts and the death vocals feel very forced. It barely sounds like the same band at all—of course that's not a bad thing if the music is still good, but I don't think Ahab quite has a handle on this kind of sound yet. While the songs aren't bad, the singing comes off as really cheesy and the music seems like it is always trying to get really heavy but never quite makes it.

Taken on its own merits, The Giant is still a pretty decent sludgy doom album. Maybe it's a bit generic, maybe it's a bit corny. But it's not horrid. It has some good crunchy riffs, nice melodies here and there (the middle of "Aeons Elapse" and end of "Deliverance" are two of my favorites), and the general atmosphere is alright; but there still isn't much to say about it because as a whole the album just isn't very interesting. It just reminds me of plenty of bands I'd rather hear instead—Earth, Corrupted, Giant Squid, or of course Call of the Wretched Sea.

Needless to say I probably won't be returning to The Giant. Ultimately, it's just okay; again it's not bad but if four listens wasn't enough to convince me that it's worth keeping around, I doubt any more will.

4

Ufomammut & Lento – Supernaturals Record One

June 2007 • Supernatural Cat

I've always found collaborations between full bands to be interesting. The ones I've heard rarely ever work; everyone winds up stepping on each others' toes as the instruments fight for room in the mix and songwriting styles clash. It's hard to tell if Ufomammut and Lento have defied my contrived stereotype, as they seem to go together decently enough but I'm ultimately not too impressed by the result.

I'm a very mild fan of both Ufomammut and Lento (big surprise; they're both sludge metal bands), and their collaboration produced an album that sounded more or less exactly what I thought it would sound like—the sludgy styles of each band meld pretty seamlessly, while Ufomammut's usual psych-rock accents are similar icing here. Actually, it's so seamless that if I didn't know better I'd believe it's just a normal (maybe a bit doomier) Ufomammut album (it doesn't help that Lento's sound is a bit generic). As expected, the music is incredibly dense and heavy; the guitars and bass create an impenetrable wall of sound, and when the riffing stops for some psychedelic droning-out there's still quite a bit going on.

So on the surface, there's some pretty interesting stuff to hear; but ultimately the songs themselves don't do much to keep my attention. For the most part, the bands are simply jamming out together—which is understandable; I'm sure it's tough to coordinate a collaboration with some carefully-crafted songs that make everyone happy. But as a listener, such prolonged hammering away on a single chord or riff for so long gets tiresome.

That isn't to say they don't have their moments, of course; the tense buildup of "Maestoso" is pretty darn good as an intro to "The Overload", which has a pretty amazing riff. It's just a shame that one riff is all the song ever does. In fact, when they aren't creating a wall of noise with heavy riffing, some of the sounds they create are really neat. The beginning of "Infect Two" is a great example with the tribal drumming, droning bass, atmospherics, and background vocals.

There will be plenty of people out there who will probably love this album—people who live for huge, dense heaviness; Supernaturals Record One does exactly that and it does it well. Personally, I'm ambivalent; I feel like there is a lot of potential here that wasn't fully realized and it sounds better in theory than in practice. Still, this isn't a bad album and both bands remain solid on their own, even if I'm not totally sold on their collaboration.

5

(((o))) – Las flores del mal

October 13, 2008 • self-released

Another release from the recesses of my library; (((o))) is a Mexican noise / drone doom artist by whom I have a single album. That probably won't change, as Las flores del mal has never really made a good impression on me, coming off as a poor attempt to make music without any clue of what makes it interesting or good.

The music itself is very amateur-sounding and sometimes sloppy. The album's centerpiece "Las flores del mal" is a sprawling drone doom metal track that, after taking forever to build up with some subtle noise, consists of mostly smashing a single guitar chord and cymbal hit over noise before fading out as slowly as it came in. It's not impressive at all; it simply sounds bad. Not only do the guitar and drums not always sync up, but the tone is terrible, and again it's just one chord, over and over. "El sello roto" is almost exactly the same thing, except without as much padding to stretch it from five minutes to eleven.

The piano-based opener and closer don't help much, although they aren't bad themselves, if still a bit sloppy. But still, listening to this release is incredibly unsatisfying; I feel like there could maybe be a decent drone doom band in there somewhere if they learned how to do any songwriting and maybe practiced. The noise parts weren't bad, so that's something. Overall, though, Las flores del mal is simply pointless and not even worth the twenty minutes it takes.

3

Subrosa – No Help for the Mighty Ones

March 1, 2011 • Profound Lore Records

I had never heard of Subrosa until I picked up their newest album on a recommendation, but I can say with confidence that No Help for the Mighty Ones is one of the finest albums of this year and definitely among my favorite doom metal albums of all time. It's masterfully crafted, full of amazing sounds, and the songwriting is absolutely fantastic. I don't listen to doom metal as much as I used to; a lot of the stuff I've heard lately has been really generic-sounding and as such has mostly turned me off from the genre, even though it's something I should be really into. But this album is an exception to all those boring albums I've heard. While at its core, the songwriting stays true to a very doomy style with crushing guitar riffs, really solid drumming, and a very dark and brooding atmosphere, Subrosa throws a lot of elements into their songs that help them stand out.

Most noticable is their near-exclusive use of clean vocals; normally I would say that would hurt a doom band's sound, but they employ a female vocalist whose voice fits the music surprisingly well—it isn't over-dramatic or mixed too high, so it blends in perfectly. Sometimes she also does some low growling sort of vocals; these are rare but they sound great. I haven't heard many female-fronted bands use harsh vocals and that's something I think the world needs more of. And for anyone who really likes the vocals, "House Carpenter" is a very folky-sounding a cappella piece. It sounds nice but I'm not a huge fan (it's not really my style of music). I will admit it fits pretty nicely in the album, though.

Another subtle but ever-present element is the use of violin; from what I understand the band actually has two full-time violinists who round out the sound really well. They switch between hanging in the background playing guitar-like riffs or coming out for some "soloing"; either way their presence is totally justified in the band's sound and it works really well. The band uses some other odd instrumentation here and there, such as the zither (I think?) in "Stonecarver", the harmonica in "Attack on Golden Mountain", or the music box at the end of "The Inheritance", which is weird but I really like how it finishes off the song. Such odd instruments are always the sort of thing you wouldn't expect to work in an album like this, but they're all pulled off really well, a testament to the talent of the band.

I am probably a bit biased in liking this album so much though—their sound does have a bit of sludge metal influence, with a lot of the riffage, tempo, and atmosphere reminding me of Cult of Luna, my all-time favorite metal band. I'm not saying they're ripping anyone off—far from it—it's just that their songs have a atmospheric and musical quality that I am already a huge fan of. The violin parts, especially, take me back to the band's self-titled album which had a lot of cello parts in it. I think cello works better in general, but it's not a slight against Subrosa. Similarly, Subrosa is able to write music that alternates well between beautiful and melodic to dirty and dissonant while meshing these moods together perfectly. "Whippoorwill" is probably my favorite track and falls mostly on the "beautiful" end of that spectrum (it's practically sing-along-able at times), but even coming right after "Attack on Golden Mountain" which is a very dark and brooding song it fits perfectly; the flow is pretty much always spot-on like that.

In fact I can hardly think of a single thing about this album I don't like. As I mentioned earlier, the songwriting is fantastic all the way through; even though most of the songs are sort of long they never get boring or over-repetitive, something a lot of doom albums have problems with. No Help for the Mighty Ones is a very recommendable album, one of the best I've heard in a while, and I'm excited to see where this band goes in the future.

8

Corrupted – Garten der Unbewusstheit

August 20, 2011 • Nostalgia Blackrain

Corrupted has had one hell of a run over their lifetime. Until recently, among countless splits and EPs, they've put out four absolutely excellent albums, something most bands can never claim. Their last effort, 2005's El mundo frio, has been one of my all-time favorite albums ever since I first heard it, and I thought they'd never be able to top it. In fact, I never really thought about them releasing an album again; it's been six years, and the last two releases (2007's twin singles "An Island Insane" and "Vasana") were pretty disappointing compared to their normal output. But then, out of nowhere, they pop back up again, quietly pushing another masterpiece out.

Now I'm not going to say that they did top the last one with Garten der Unbewusstheit, but I know they are coming pretty close. The opening track is actually very reminiscent of El mundo frio: A very long, slow buildup, gradually morphing into very dense guitars and drums, and you don't even notice it changing until it drops back into being soft again (no harp this time, unfortunately)... it sounds a bit typical of their style, but the atmosphere created is very intense with such a sprawling sound. It helps that the production is a bit simpler this time: there's no unusual instrumentation, a lot less dissonance and noise, maybe even fewer layers of guitar. Often that helps add to the feeling of heaviness, which works really well in "Gekkou no Daichi", which sounds a bit like Paso inferior, oddly enough.

Speaking of which, "Gekkou no Daichi" might be one of the best tracks I've ever heard from Corrupted. It's got a nice simple buildup, but in the middle of the song, by the time it's in full out slamming-bricks mode, it actually has a melody in it. I don't recall if they've actually done anything really melodic before, especially not in a major key, so it kind of came out of nowhere, but it is really welcome, adding a new layer of grandiosity to the piece and also giving it a sense of finality. Hopefully this just indicates finality of the album, and not the band, but it would make a great track to bow out on.

On my first listen I thought that Garten der Unbewusstheit was basically more of the same stuff we've been hearing from the band, but a closer listen proved otherwise. They really are only getting better. No, I don't think this quite tops either El mundo frio or Se hace por los suenos asesinos, but if someone disagrees I can completely understand why. Garten der Unbewusstheit may have been an unexpected release, but it is absolutely welcome.

9