ALBUM REVIEW: Asphyx - "Incoming Death"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Lenth
Date Released: 30/09/2016
Label: Century Media Records

this is a fantastic Asphyx album and a ferocious beast of a record all around. It adds to the band's considerable legacy and confirms Asphyx as one of the very best operating in this arena. Indeed, such is their sound, they are in a category of one, really. I have always thought of them as being kind of the European equivalent to Obituary; cult favourites with a unique sound and style. This is indeed death/doom, done the brutal way.

‘Incoming Death’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Candiru

2. Division Brandenburg

3. Wardroid

4. The Feeder

5. It Came From The Skies

6. The Grand Denial

7. Incoming Death

8. Forerunners of the Apocalypse

9. Subterra Incognita

10. Wildland Fire

11. Death: The Only Immortal

The Review:

Asphyx return after the superb “Deathhammer” from a few years back. Van Drunen and co. are firing on all cylinders here. Asphyx are certainly a classic band- one of the first to really mix doom and death together and they have a certain viciousness which I have always found rather teutonic (rather than Dutch). It is business as usual for the opener “Candiru”; fast and furious, a thick sound that is a little warmer than its predecessor's production, but certainly no less deadly.

Naturally, after the fast paced pummelling comes the slower delivery of “Division Brandenburg”- ruthlessly heavy and with the Germanic sound that the title suggests. The band summon the sound of rolling tanks very effectively just as Bolt Thrower or Ravens Creed have done. “Wardroid” is also fantastically weighty and crushing. Over the course of the eleven tracks, the band don't put a foot wrong. The vocals are pleasingly as rough as ever, the band playing with authority.

The tempo kicks up several notches with “The Feeder”; the band barrelling along at Motorhead pace, dropping to half time when needed... and then dropping again. “It Came from the Skies” is a beast; a maelstrom of riffage and mid tempo groove. There are two tracks which go over into epic length territory; “The Grand Denial” is a veritable feast of doom/death at over seven minutes in length, with the final track, “Death: The Only Immortal” running over eight!

The rest of the album is a focused and toned listen with most tracks following actual song structures rather than the riff-soup approach of many death bands. The title track is particularly vicious and sprints by in under two minutes. Just as “Deathhammer's” title track was a stand out, as is “Incoming Death”. Awesome stuff.

“Forerunners of the Apocalypse” is another stomper of a riff and rhythm that is guaranteed to get your head banging. “Subterra Incognita” shifts the gears downwards again, giving a good ebb and flow to the album's structure. Unsurprisingly, “Wildland Fire” sounds exactly like its title; fantastic riffs, good use of tempo shifts and all in all, a late album stand out. The aforementioned “Death...” closes proceedings in epic style. Eight minutes of carefully balanced doom and death- with that monstrous bass sound pushed front and centre.

To sum up, this is a fantastic Asphyx album and a ferocious beast of a record all around. It adds to the band's considerable legacy and confirms Asphyx as one of the very best operating in this arena. Indeed, such is their sound, they are in a category of one, really. I have always thought of them as being kind of the European equivalent to Obituary; cult favourites with a unique sound and style. This is indeed death/doom, done the brutal way.

‘Incoming Death’ is available here

Band info: facebook

RIYL: Autopsy, Hail of Bullets, Bolt Thrower, Obituary

ALBUM REVIEW - Hooded Menace - "Darkness Drips Forth"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 30/10/2015

Label: Relapse Records

Hooded Menace has delivered a powerful and dynamic record with plenty of doom, fully informed with the approach of death metal of a more Euro/Scandi approach. For me, there is nothing to dislike here and everything to enjoy. A fine and focused record.

“Darkness Drips Forth” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Blood For The Burning Oath/Dungeons of The Disembodied

2). Elysium of Dripping Death

3). Ashen with Solemn Decay

4). Beyond Deserted Flesh

The Review:

Death/Doom monsters Hooded Menace return to “Finnish” us all off with a brand new masterpiece! That is the most levity you will get from me when reviewing this album. To say that it is not a cheery listen would be a huge understatement.

This is slow. This is heavy. This is very, very dark. In fact, rarely has an album title summed up the contents held therein so accurately. Opener “Blood For The Burning Oath/Dungeons of The Disembodied” is packed full of ideas- leads, melodies, very dark riffing and deeper than the ocean vocals combine to make this eleven minute plus track just fly by (or at least crawl speedily).

I find the production to be a step up from 2012's “Effigies of Evil” and the band really deliver a tightly played opus, neatly shifting time feels and using dynamics to good effect. In fact, the heart of the record is as death as it is doom- in terms of approach and structures, certainly.

“Elysium of Dripping Death” continues the macabre journey with some very funereal sounding doom passages, mixed in with more familiar doom and melancholy. Generally speaking the tracks come in somewhere around the ten or eleven minute mark, so across four songs you get well over forty minutes of music. This is worth noting, as it means that the album does not outstay its welcome and the band is allowed to focus their ideas into the strongest possible showing over the course of the record. It is not all unremitting oppressive weight; there are moments, if not of levity, that at least lift the shroud a little and allow some lighter elements to enter the sound.

“Ashen with Solemn Decay” boasts an enormous and reverb heavy drum sound for the intro and then the guitars kick in with a rather Paradise Lost style lead/rhythm riff section before the doom gets going again. Again, there is rather more lead and melody than I expected on the album as a whole and that is a fine thing.

“Beyond Deserted Flesh” has some excellent chugging riffs and recalls a much slowed down version of peak Swe-Death. Indeed, the track is the best on the record for me. It could be that it takes a while to get into the overall sound and approach, but once you do you will be hooked- if death/doom is your thing.

Hooded Menace has delivered a powerful and dynamic record with plenty of doom, fully informed with the approach of death metal of a more Euro/Scandi approach. For me, there is nothing to dislike here and everything to enjoy. A fine and focused record. 

“Darkness Drips Forth” is available here

FFO: Asphyx, Coffins, Druid Lord, Autopsy

Band info: facebook | twitter | bandcamp

Coffins - ‘Craving The Internal Slumber’ (Album Review)

‘No frills necessary, just barbaric riffs and guttural growls’

Album Type: Mini-Album

Date Released: 21/08/2015

Label: Hammerheart Records

‘Craving The Internal Slumber’ CD//LP//DD  track listing:

1. Hatred Storm

2. Tyrant

3. Craving To Eternal Slumber

4. Stairway To Torment

5. An Obscure Pain

6. Decapitated Crawl

7. Hellbringer*

8. Under The Stench* (Alternate Version)

* vinyl bonustracks

Coffins is:

Uchino | Guitar/Vocal
Satoshi  | Drums
Tokita | Vocal

Review:

Coffins new album. Does exactly what it says on the tin...or album sleeve in this case.

Coffins are a very prolific band with this  EP being release number 34 (and 4th this calendar year!) amid a slew of compilations, live albums and splits with the likes of Noothgrush, XXX Maniac, Otesanek, Hooded Menace etc.  For fans of meat and potatoes death metal with the occasional doomy passage, you can't go wrong with this. Opening number 'Hatred Storm' goes straight for the jugular. No frills necessary, just barbaric riffs and guttural growls.

'Tyrant' starts with a mid tempo beat and vocalist Tokita (only a member since 2014) growls like a samurai Chris Reifert. Title track 'Craving To Eternal Slumber' is next and is reminiscent of their 'Mortification To Ruin' album released in 2005 in its slow, crawling riffage. The horrific screams towards the end make this an uncomfortable listen. Next is 'Stairway to Torment' which goes full on in its Autopsy/Obituary worship. There's even some blast beats and a spoken word passage! 'An Obscure Pain', the album's 5th track is back to the meat and potatoes. Uchino riffs away like a mad man and drummer Satoshi hammering away and changing the time signature to 3/4 to provide the album's only frills. Final track ‘Decapitated Crawl’ may remind fans of their earlier work....because it's a rerecording from 2007's spilt with The Arm And Sword Of A Bastard God. In all honesty it's difficult to differentiate between Uchino and Tokita but it's always been a great track nonetheless.

In 2008, it was hard a find a copy of career highlight 'Buried Death' that wasn't sticky with the ejaculate of the extreme music press.  Since then, Coffins have stuck to what they always have done; churning out release after release of neanderthalic Death Fucking Metal. Don't expect a game changer or a landmark because Coffins don't play that shit and that's why we love 'em!

Words by: Chris Bull

‘Craving The Internal Slumber’ will be available here from 21/08/2015

For more information:

Like: https://www.facebook.com/intothecoffin

Official: http://www.coffins.jp/

Follow: https://twitter.com/CoffinsJP

Listen: https://coffins.bandcamp.com/

Apothecary - 'Drifting Towards the Ancients' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Release Date: 25/4/2015

Label: Self-Release

'Drifting Towards the Ancients' CD/LP/DD tracklist:

1). Fortune Doesn't Smile on the Damned

2). Dawn on Me

3). No Voice to Feed On

4). Gamma Soul

5). Into the Cauldron

Apothecary is:

Drew Holt | Guitars, Vocals
Andy Honer | Guitars, Vocals
Brad Moffit | Bass
Jarrod Ives | Drums (Session)

Review:

Your rocks may be little Arkansas but you're balls are huge. Hailing from Little Rock, or Conway as their bandcamp and facebook have conflicting hometowns, Arkansas' Apothecary boasts a surprisingly deep album. These guys cover a lot of range and dip their toes into many heavy genres throughout the span of “Drifting Towards the Ancients.” In addition, oddly enough they do sound a bit like fellow Arkansas powerhouse Pallbearer as the album progresses; expect more on the riffy side and less lead guitar melodies. Apothecary will sit on a riff and drub you with it,

their vocals are delivered similarly too and foray into the depths of black and death metal, with a touch of grind core to the backing vocals.

This is a very well recorded effort by Apothecary, they use a lot of different textures, particularly in the vocals, and everything can be very clearly heard throughout the whole album. The weird minimalist solo right before the halfway point of the fourth track “Gamma Soul” is a particular highlight to me. The song writing on this one also belies a deep maturity for such a newer band as the following sections with the minimalist break leading back into a wide ranging melodic section are very well executed and is not something seen often in newer bands. I would also be inclined to say the last two songs are my favorites on the album. During the final track “Into the Cauldron” Apothecary drops some vintage high pitched 80s vocals that both come out of left field and are awesome. The lead break that functions as a bridge in this song is very tastefully done and I really like how drummer Jarrod Ives handles this section with a simple beat but very nice fills which he gradually adds without overwhelming the section.

A weird side note is that whilst looking at the band's facebook, their bassist has a pretty awesome looking mask painted on his speaker cab grille. It's looks like something out of Pan's Labyrinth, it's pretty fucking cool looking and if that paint is glow in the dark that shit would look badass on stage. Another slight tangential detail is their pretty cool gear choices, with the bassist Brad Moffit rocking a 6 string Ibanez and one guitarist has one of the nicer Agile Les Paul knockoffs.   It's interesting to hear a band using not-insanely expensive gear and still sound way better then lots of people that are. I would also like to shout out to the artist Adrian Baxter who did the cover art which echoes the gates of Moria in Lord of the Rings framing a wild looking zombie scarecrow?

In closing, this album is a definite grower. Apothecary uses perfect pacing and a masterful dynamic range to move through the wide spectrum of underground metal. To call this only a “doom” album, does it a disservice because this album crosses boundaries in ways that show a willingness to experiment. I would say this is a must buy, and looking at their t-shirts, those are a must buys too, definitely some cool artwork and great job guys. One of the best of the year to date.

Words by: Chris Tedor

For more information:

Listen: https://apothecaryar.bandcamp.com/album/drifting-towards-the-ancients

Like: https://www.facebook.com/Apothecaryar

Paradise Lost - 'The Plague Within' (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 01/06/2015

Label: Century Media Records

‘The Plague Within’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. No Hope In Sight (4:54)

2. Terminal (4:28)

3. An Eternity Of Lies (5:58)

4. Punishment Through Time (5:13)

5. Beneath Broken Earth (6:09)

6. Sacrifice The Flame (4:42)

7. Victim Of The Past (4:29)

8. Flesh From Bone (4:19)

9. Cry Out (4:31)

10. Return To The Sun (5:44)

Paradise Lost is

Nick Holmes | vocals

Greg Mackintosh | lead guitar

Aaron Aedy | rhythm guitar

Steve Edmondson | bass guitar

Adrian Erlandsson | drums

Review:

I was very much looking forward to this record coming through for review. Paradise Lost is a classic band. They are also an underappreciated band. I reviewed their rarities collection”Tragic Illusion” a couple of years back and noted similarly then. Well, this album follows the last studio album proper, “Tragic Idol”, which was (I repeat) a superb album. PL has gone from strength to strength in the last decade. They were one of those bands that were going to be massive (Therapy?) but never did it and instead just did what they wanted. Kudos to them, I say, even if I still find “Host” to be very odd indeed. There is of course the matter of “Draconian Times” as well; a real influence on me growing up and to this day up there as one of my favourite records.

I suppose I could sum up by saying that Paradise Lost has always been there- but I haven't. They just lost me in the late 90's. These days, I rate them very highly indeed. Does this album deliver?! Yes. Absolutely it does. With Nick Holmes moonlighting in Bloodbath, the word was that death vocals would once again feature in the recorded output of his day job. They do; but there is much more to this album than just revisionism. The band has always ploughed a singular furrow and it continues to do so here. The opener “No Hope In Sight” is bleak and weighty. The production is fantastic- majestic and sweeping but with a real punch too. It is a little more expansive than the sound on “Tragic Idol” (as a point of reference). There are guitar melodies aplenty... and riffs. What riffs! The vibe took me right back to “Draconian Times” and it pleased me hugely when I stuck this on for the first time yesterday.

“Terminal” is massive- big riffs, big drums and big vocals from Holmes- in a very old school style. From there you get classical instruments on “An Eternity of Lies”, harmony guitars and a looping groove on “Punishment Through Time” (fantastic track) and the album really comes into focus. It is a distillation of all that has been good about Paradise Lost all these years- the heaviness, the bleakness, the experimentation. All of it is here in a very metal package. No synth-pop here. You won't mistake it for Depeche Mode, that's for sure.

When the band do doom, such as on “Beneath Broken Earth”, they do it very well. Over six minutes of downcast morbidity. It will remind you of why Paradise Lost were revered in the early years, and why they should be now. Heavy, heavy stuff. “Sacrifice The flame” brings strings with it and a lilting melody, showing how versatile the band can be. A note here: if the ingredients sound disparate, don't be fooled. The album hangs together very well indeed and each track compliments the next. It sounds like an album- as “Tragic Idol” did. The band also play to their strengths in putting out ten tracks- it makes the release focussed and holds the attention. Most albums really don't need to be any longer than that- most really need to be shorter. Even though I love “Draconian Times”, I always thought it could have lost a track or two.

“Victims of The Past” continues the high standards with an excellent (clean) vocal and slow build to a very dramatic song. “Flesh From Bone” Ups the tempo and is heavy with it- super bleak stuff for sure- and makes use of tempo changes. It is arguable that this is the heaviest track that the band have put out for well over twenty years.

“Cry Out” throws a grooving curve ball into the mix with a great head nodding pace and excellent Priest-esque musical arrangement- basic chords for the verses, riffs to fill the gaps. The lead work of Mackintosh is stellar as it always is (check out his side project Vallenfyre if you haven't already) while Aedy holds that rhythm down. Again, on first listen, this track leapt out of the speakers at me. Fantastic.

The excellent “Return to the Sun” closes the record  in style. Once again, the riffs are gargantuan as is the lead work. Paradise Lost, at their best, kind of sound like a cross between Type O Negative and Bolt Thrower and that is how they sound on this one.

For me, this record is a contender for the album of the year list for sure. It is certainly one of Paradise Lost's best records, which is saying something considering the length and breadth of their discography. It is oh-so-satisfying when you look forward to an album and it exceeds your expectations. I had “Tragic Idol” on several times in preparation for this album to see if there was a connection or a noticeable foundation on which “The Plague Within” was to be built.

As usual, I cannot categorize them- there are elements of doom, death, goth, even classical- and once again I have been reminded that they are one of the best bands that the British Isles has to offer. You will miss them when they are gone, so get on board with their career now. Whether you be a prodigal son or a new convert, you won't be disappointed as this album is superb.

Words by: Richard Maw

‘The Plague Within’ is available for pre order now and will out everywhere June 1^st 2015

For more information:

Official: www.paradiselost.co.uk | Like: https://www.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial

Novembers Doom - Bled White (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 15/07/2014

Label: The End Records

‘Bled White’ CD//LP//DD track listing:

1). Bled White (06:49)
2). Heartfelt (07:09)
3). Just Breathe (07:50)
4). Scorpius (01:15)
5). Unrest (05:25)
6). The Memory Room (06:53)
7). The Brave Pawn (03:58)
8). Clear (06:06)
9). The Grand Circle (06:48)
10). Animus (06:39)
11). The Silent Dark (09:29)

Novembers Doom is:

Paul Kuhr | Vocals

Larry Roberts | Guitars

Vito Marchese | Guitars

Mike Feldman | Bass

Garry Naples | Drums

Review:

There was a time when Novembers Doom was on the verge of becoming doom metal royalty. 1999’s ‘Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers’ and 2000’s ‘The Knowing’ were classics in a time when doom metal wasn’t anywhere near as fashionable as it would become nearly fifteen years later. Both albums were rich with melody and atmosphere, and of course; Paul Kuhr’s guttural vocals are the stuff of legend. Later, ‘Welcome to the Fade’ was a strong follow up, though a step behind the others and ‘Pale Haunt Departure’ marked their greatest notoriety to that point, even if it still felt a notch below their best work at the time.

After that point, Novembers Doom seemed to struggle, releasing a few albums from 2007-2011 that felt flat after years of much stronger material. I’ve always given each album a listen based on the strength of their early material, but more often than not I was disappointed with what I heard. It sounded hollow, with only a tenuous connection to the powerful music they’d produced before. That brings us to ‘Bled White’, released last summer. Some 10 years since their last truly vital album, Novembers Doom are still struggling to recapture the magic of those early albums. It’s not a bad album by any stretch, but none of it really connects on any deeper level beyond the superficial. It’s beautifully recorded and there are some songs you can nod your head along to, but ‘Bled White’ is still an album by a band in stagnation.

The album starts off strongly with two of its strongest tracks: “Bled White” and “Heartfelt”. The former bares some resemblance to “Harmony Divine” from ‘The Knowing’ in the opening moments for its dissonance, before locking into a doom death verse/semi-prog based chorus, which are nice compliments to each other in the way they’re carried out. “Heartfelt” had me sit up at first, on account of how beautiful the introductory riff is. There are some great riffs throughout, though it’s a bit more uptempo than I’d prefer. After that, the album gets off track, with “Just Breathe” falling shy of the mark as a lighter contrast to the band’s traditional darker doom metal fare. Too much of the album is focused around resonant chord plucking in the chorus and faster tempo (for Novembers Doom) sections that fall with a thud more than they elicit any emotional reaction of adrenaline rush.

That’s essentially the story of Novembers Doom circa 2014. They’re a band branching out into musical spaces that don’t play to their strengths as musicians. It’s a shame, as I’d love for a band exploring new terrain to come out of it the better for having done so. The results indicate that too much of their musical direction is focused in places that will keep them from ever really being the great band they were fifteen years ago. There are flashes of that old brilliance, but they’re too far and few between for ‘Bled White’ to be anything better than just “fine”.

Words by: Daniel Jackson

You can pick up a digital copy here and a CD/LP copy here.

For more information:

Official | Facebook | Twitter



Atriarch - An Unending Pathway (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 24/10/2014

Label: Relapse Records

‘An Unending Pathway’CD//LP//DD track listing:

1). Entropy
2). Collapse
3). Revenant
4). Bereavement
5). Rot
6). Allfather
7). Veil

Atriarch is:

Lenny | Vocals
Brooks | Guitars
Maxamillion | Drums
Joe | Bass

Review:

“Atriarch is a living entity comprised of four parts, offering catharsis through sonic ritual. Our aim is to tear a hole in the veil that blinds us from our true selves." 

‘An Unending Pathway’, Atriarch's first release on Relapse Records, is a challenging, harrowing record. In just over forty minutes, the group lurches and reels along a path of death rock, psych doom, and blast-laden fury. "Entropy" starts things off slowly and deliberately -- ambient sounds, whispers, chants, and bassist Joe Wickstrom's unsettling melody line all make it clear that this is not your usual doom metal fare. The opening line of the song, "we have a tendency to perceive time as a straight line," is as prophetic as it is cryptic. This record is anything but straight forward. As the track continues to build with more complex guitar lines, the band launches into a chaotic round of blast beats and double-bass lines, accented by Lenny Smith's increasingly intense vocal deliveries. Suddenly the song ends, and there is a sense of uneasy relief as "Collapse" begins with its own dramatic crescendo. 

However, Atriarch avoids returning to the clean, sparse instrumentation and chants of the previous track; this is part of an intentional ebb and flow, a sort of doomed-out sine wave whose peaks and valleys are both narrowing and intensifying as the record progresses.  Admittedly, the shouts and chants may turn off those who prefer a more traditional sung or screamed vocal delivery, but there is something urgent, compelling, even manic, to Smith's proclamations. As those warnings give way to harsh, distorted screams, one cannot help but feel the walls closing in during the closing movement of "Collapse" before it gives way to the snare drum intro of "Revenant."

The song titles and lyrics outline the trajectory of the album, an exploration of mortality, death, and the nature of existence. This record is a thematic whole, in spite of (or because of) the unique moments of each song. From the atmosphere of tracks like "Entropy" and "Rot" to the furious opening of "Bereavement", Atriarch know when to pull back on their sonic assault and when to steamroll the listener. 

"We try to comprehend life without an end/ there’s no ego, there's no self in the end/ no face, no name/ you are not you/ you are the ending." With the closing lines of "Veil," the theme of nonlinearity is brought full circle. As the track fades out with the contrasting Tibetan-style throat chanting and reverb-drenched singing of Jessica Way (Worm Ouroboros), the ending is reminiscent of, yet miles away from, the calm opening moments of ‘An Unending Pathway’.

This is not an album for easy listening. Much like the story contained within the lyrics, the album itself is a non-traditional journey. For those willing to commit themselves, the result is an unsettling-yet-rewarding arrival at a glorious cosmic awareness.

Words by: Ben Hutcherson

You can pick up a digital copy here and a CD/LP copy here.

For more information:

Facebook | Bandcamp

Cauldron Black Ram - Stalagmire (Album Review)

Album Type : Full Length

Date Released : 1/4/2014

Label : 20 Buck Spin

STALAGMIRE, album track listing :

1). Fork through Pitch 03:19

2). Maw 03:21

3). Discarded Death 04:05

4). A Litany of Sailors Sins 04:16

5). Bats 03:35

6). Cavern Fever 02:36

7). From Whence the Old Skull Came 03:13

8). The Devil’s Trotters 04:14

9). Speliogenesis 04:22

Bio :

Following a deuce of LPs disbursed through cooperative alliances with Weird Truth Productions, Blood Harvest and Parasitic, among a random gaggle of demos and EPs since their 1997 formation, the latest tirade from this crew of bandits from Adelaide shows CAULDRON BLACK RAM once again utilizing tactics learned in previous voyages through treacherous doom and death territory. However, the Stalagmire be the grandest onslaught from this brutal seafaring trio yet, with the pungency of an armada’s worth of bilge rats and bellowing with the might of a thousand cannons.

Stalagmire will invade ports and pillage villages in North America on April and in Europe April 4th via CD, LP and digital deployment methods.

The crude horde that be the CAULDRON BLACK RAM emerge yet once more from wat’ry tomb to besiege hapless poseurs and put to manacles weak would be picaroons. Being the third of albums to sail under the banner of CBR, the new recording is a commanding effort of sludgy crossboned black death metal and slimy, rum-sodden doomed debauchery. The brigands from the far side of the world prove well versed in the execution of this unfair trade, delivering knavish punishment unto unprepared ears in the form of Stalagmire. This scurrilous tale puts CAULDRON BLACK RAM in league with similar ugly contemporaries who pay heed to old, distasteful gods and outlaw tradition but yet forge a singular path of their own making. Be it black, death, doom or thrash, all goes into the strange brew mixed in the CAULDRON BLACK RAM.

Review :

Australia's Cauldron Black Ram have been knocking about since the heady days of 1996, it would appear. In all honesty before this latest effort for 20 Buck Spin I was completely unaware of them. 'Stalagmire' is death doom that sees the light of day (or not) in a 12 month span populated by heavyweight punches to the gut from the likes of Autopsy, Coffins and Vastum. Can they hold up against the gauntlet already laid down before them?

'Fork Through Pitch' is highly reminiscent of the slow groove that permeates throughout the work of Six Feet Under, as well as some vocal similarities to what Barnes will growl out for that band. From this listener that comes as high praise, I loves me some SFU. The lead work isn't quite as murky though and the guitars don't sound like they were recorded under a swamp. Now while that might put a lot of you off it is by no means a constant for the whole album, and goes a long way towards accurately illustrating how much the band are willing to mix it up between raw and smooth. It shows a discerning ear.

Further to that point, the track that immediately follows on is both filthy and foggy in equal measure. 'Maw' (presumably nothing to do with SL scribe Richard) is a looser number, less refined in an intentional way. Initially soaked in melancholic doom longing, it quickly trades that in for death influenced straight metal that is full of gallop at times.

'A Litany of Sailor's Sins' comes with some sludge crush attached to its hip as a bonus. I'm loving how the band can quite easily pull the trigger on upping the pace whenever it suits them, but to me their best work is anchored in the zombie snail territory.  Vocals that are not performed so much as spat out, like nobody wants those words in their mouth any longer than they absolutely have to. Pretty vile, and a star trait for the sound that they choose to pursue.

Pick of the rotten bunch though is 'From Whence The Old Skull Came'.  Just real, undiluted demonic crush. A riff so vehemently weighty and savage that it nearly bit off my leg, and in my madness I would have pursued it like a white whale. Years later I would have lost my ship, my life and the successful use of my neck muscles, in that order. Slow, sullen, heaving and pounding, it's an absolute knuckle dragging Neanderthal of a tune that stops without warning. So sad when it does, but I cling to the fond memories of a time while it lasted.

So yeah, 'Stalagmire' manages to hold it's own against the top death doom releases of the last year. Maybe not as relentlessly heavy as Coffins, but certainly the equal of many of their peers.  Well worth a sniff if you dig your slothful sounds laced with morose thought. Check 'em out.

Words by : Matt Fitton

You can get it here

For more information :

http://cauldronblackram.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/cauldronblackramofficial
http://www.20buckspin.com
http://www.facebook.com/20buckspin
http://twitter.com/20buckspinlabel