Thursday 29 May 2014

Hooded Menace / Loss - A View From The Rope Split 12" (Review)


Album Type : 12” Vinyl EP
Date Released : 7/5/2014
Label : Doomentia Records


A View From The Rope, track listing :

1). Hooded Menace – Mouuments of Misery 09:02
2). Loss – Depression’s Hammer 07:14

Review :

Hooded Menace return with nine minutes of doom/death. Monuments of Misery is their contribution to this split EP. The sound is massive here with very low vocals (is their usual approach). The tempo is slothful and the guitars work well with crashing chords of doom and some niftier melodies eked out in melancholic fashion. There is a great bass break that sets up some superb riffing and soloing after the six minute mark, as the tempo ups a little and the song takes flight. The tempo gets into the kid range and more soloing follows. The track showcases Hooded Menace at their best- it is kind of a smorgasbord of what they do, displayed over nine minutes.

Loss weigh in with Depression's Hammer Over seven minutes of exactly what you would expect from that title- morose and maudlin, the vocals are impossibly low with the instrumentation taking on distant sound, covered with reverb. Doom/sludge in the style of Moss, maybe- or similar.

For me, Hooded Menace was the main attraction here, but you would lose nothing getting hold of the EP and trying out both bands.

Words by : Richard Maw