By: Chris Bull
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 25/12/2017
Label: Third I Rex
Sweden's Pissboiler have crafted a brilliant album of terrifying
proportions, creating a sense of tension and foreboding and pummelling the
listener with sledgehammer riffs.
“In The Lair Of Lucid Nightmares” CD//DD track listing:
1.
Ruins of the Past
2. Stealth
3. Pretend It Will End
4. Cutters
2. Stealth
3. Pretend It Will End
4. Cutters
The Review:
There
are 3 types of heavy bands; those which employ speed and ferocity, those whose
use of atmosphere creates a tension and sense of foreboding and those who are
slow and forceful, pummelling listeners with Sledgehammer riffs. On 'In The Lair Of Lucid Nightmares',
Sweden's Pissboiler take the latter 2 and craft a
brilliant album of terrifying proportions.
Creeping from the murky chasms, 'Ruins Of The Past' is 17 minutes of funeral procession-esque death/doom. Vocalist LG (no, not that LG) produces a guttural roar that sounds like it's bellowed from the 7th later of hell and the riffs saunter with My Dying Bride like misery in tow. The production from band member Karl Wijk enhances each element with each instrument clinging to their own space while bleeding nicely into others. 'Stealth' comes as a bit of a surprise with it's lonely jazzy bass riff dripping with chorus and reverb and, at under 3 minutes, is the album's shortest track by far. The respite is short lived as 'Pretend It Will End' is utterly harrowing. Blood curdling growls and piercing shrieks team with suicide inducing, slow riffs before the bells toll and things take a slight turn with a riff reminiscent of Burning Witch. A very disturbing sample from a doctor talking to her patient, sets the tone for final track 'Cutters'; the atmosphere builds slowly with cavernous growls and swelling guitar drones and never stops the barrage of depressive doom. Some harsh screams burst through the bass heavy droning making for a truly unsettling experience.
For a fairly unknown band to create something this comprehensive (and very impressive) goes to show the talent that lurks in the darkest corners. If Sunn 0))) had released this, it would make the top 10 end of year lists of several well known publications, but for those of us who judge things on merit, it will most definitely be a contender, regardless of their standing.
Creeping from the murky chasms, 'Ruins Of The Past' is 17 minutes of funeral procession-esque death/doom. Vocalist LG (no, not that LG) produces a guttural roar that sounds like it's bellowed from the 7th later of hell and the riffs saunter with My Dying Bride like misery in tow. The production from band member Karl Wijk enhances each element with each instrument clinging to their own space while bleeding nicely into others. 'Stealth' comes as a bit of a surprise with it's lonely jazzy bass riff dripping with chorus and reverb and, at under 3 minutes, is the album's shortest track by far. The respite is short lived as 'Pretend It Will End' is utterly harrowing. Blood curdling growls and piercing shrieks team with suicide inducing, slow riffs before the bells toll and things take a slight turn with a riff reminiscent of Burning Witch. A very disturbing sample from a doctor talking to her patient, sets the tone for final track 'Cutters'; the atmosphere builds slowly with cavernous growls and swelling guitar drones and never stops the barrage of depressive doom. Some harsh screams burst through the bass heavy droning making for a truly unsettling experience.
For a fairly unknown band to create something this comprehensive (and very impressive) goes to show the talent that lurks in the darkest corners. If Sunn 0))) had released this, it would make the top 10 end of year lists of several well known publications, but for those of us who judge things on merit, it will most definitely be a contender, regardless of their standing.
“In The Lair of Lucid
Nightmares” is available here
