Album Type: Split
Date Released: 15/02/2017
Label: Vendetta Records
Plump,
earthy bass tones, ominous, cymbal-heavy drumming, hellishly guttural vocals
and filthy guitar distortion are set to a tempo that makes Sleep look like a
grindcore band. All of these elements remain constant throughout the twenty-two
minutes of “Black Sea ”, giving the song an
endless, trance-inducing feel. Grim Van
Doom’s side of the album has very little fat on them; they are all lean,
brutish works of harsh sludge that churn your stomach and make the marrow of
your bones tremble.
Cult of
Occult / Grim Van Doom DD//LP track listing:
1). CULT OF OCCULT - "Black
Sea "
2). GRIM VAN DOOM – "Crimson"
3). GRIM VAN DOOM - "Interlude"
4). GRIM VAN DOOM - "Rust"
5). GRIM VAN DOOM - "Azure"
The Review:
The split album by the sludge bands Cult Of Occult
and Grim Van
Doom starkly contrast the two very different approaches that the two
bands bring to the same genre. But, if anything, that contrast grabs the
listener. Cult
Of Occult’s half of the album is one, twenty-two minute long track
titled “Black Sea ”. It rumbles like a
distant demon patiently clawing its way out from hell, one massive handful of
earth at a time. Plump, earthy bass tones, ominous, cymbal-heavy drumming,
hellishly guttural vocals and filthy guitar distortion are set to a tempo that
makes Sleep
look like a grindcore band. All of these elements remain constant throughout
the twenty-two minutes of “Black Sea ”,
giving the song an endless, trance-inducing feel.
The half
of the album given to German quarter Grim Van Doom is rather different. Containing
three songs and a brief interlude, Grim Van Doom’s side of the album is like a
punch in the face from a spiked, steel gauntlet. While all three song’s on Grim Van Doom’s
side of the album cross over the five minute mark, there is still a feeling of
very little fat on them; they are all lean, brutish works of harsh sludge that
churn your stomach and make the marrow of your bones tremble. Pungent tones
grate against your eardrums as they doll out riffs that sound as if they had
been written by someone who had spent the last two decades fuming at past
transgressions and plotting revenge.
Having the music of these two different bands
stacked side by side is an effective way of exaggerating the qualities of both.
Both Cult Of
Occult and Grim Van Doom create music that is firmly
within the sludge metal sphere, so there is enough similarity for coherence.
However, while each band grabs sludge by the throat, they do so from disparate
angels. Cult Of Occult’s slithering journey through the abyss brings out the
pounding, martial energy of Grim Van Doom, who in turn make the hellish
sounds Cult
Of Occult that much more vivid.
“Cult of Occult / Grim Van Doom” is available here
Band info: facebookcultofoccult
|| facebookgrimvandoom
