ALBUM REVIEW: Divide and Dissolve - "Basic"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/03/2017

Label: Dero Arcade

Divide and Dissolve in full flow is like a huge slab of noise reminiscent of UK low-end warriors Bismuth and the sadly departed Palehorse.  The band’s distinct racket is simultaneously skeletal and super dense, with most of the tracks consisting of slow-motion pounding drums and an oppressive wall of discordant distortion.  “Basic” is a powerful record in every sense.

“Basic” DD//LP track listing:

1). Black is Beautiful

2). Black Supremacy

3). Black Power

4). Black Resistance

5). Black & Indigenous

6). Black Vengeance

7). Black Love

8). Crimes of the Future

The Review:

It is rare for instrumental bands to have something to say, let alone more to say than most bands with lyrics. Divide and Dissolve are a duo from Melbourne who aim to empower black and indigenous people the world over and dismantle white supremacy via the medium of minimal, crushing doom.

The band’s distinct racket is simultaneously skeletal and super dense. Most of the tracks on “Basic” consist of slow-motion pounding drums and an oppressive wall of discordant distortion. “Black Is Beautiful” is a prime example of Divide and Dissolve in full flow, a huge slab of noise reminiscent of UK low-end warriors Bismuth and the sadly departed Palehorse. The tempo creeps above a crawl on “Black & Indigenous” while “Black Love” introduces some erratic blastbeats into the fray to killer effect.

Divide and Dissolve are at their most captivating when they deviate from their core sound. “Black Power” begins with a lone, haunting saxophone that creates a hypnotic, hazy ambience. This alone is enjoyable enough but when the drums and guitar make their thunderous return the track becomes a glorious collision of heaviness and otherworldly sound. “Black Resistance” finds the band at their most pared-back, the distortion dialled back to create a captivating solo guitar track that sounds like Slint trapped in a cave.

“Basic” is a powerful record in every sense. Buy it now and help Divide and Dissolve spread their message far and wide.

“Basic” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Monoliths - "Monoliths" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 01/07/2016
Label: Dry Cough Records |
Crown And Throne Ltd

This self-titled debut respects the crushing pedigree of the band’s constituent members while heading into uncharted territory. Over the course of two 16 minute behemoths, Monoliths create an absorbing world of bludgeoning repetition and psychedelic heaviness, fusing a more exploratory approach with the filth and weight of the heaviest doom

“Monoliths” DD//LP track listing:

1). Perpetual Motion

2). The Omnipresence of Emptiness

The Review:

Few bands live up to their name quite like Monoliths. Members of Ommadon, Bismuth and Moloch have combined to forge a collaboration every bit as colossal as you might expect from some of the bleakest and nastiest bands the UK has to offer.

This self-titled debut respects the crushing pedigree of the band’s constituent members while heading into uncharted territory. Over the course of two 16 minute behemoths, Monoliths create an absorbing world of bludgeoning repetition and psychedelic heaviness.

The aptly titled “Perpetual Motion” opens proceedings. The motion in question is an aggressive, sludgy trawl based on a single riff that is in a constant state of flux. The band strike a perfect balance between elegantly structured restraint and free jamming. Imagine a lumbering, doom equivalent of Mike Vest’s space cadets, Blown Out, and you won’t be disappointed.

“The Omnipresence of Emptiness” takes the template of “Perpetual Motion” and drags if further into the beyond. The track begins with a monumental riff that sounds like all of Om’s finest moments, played simultaneously at foundation-shaking volume. The scratchy, urgent bursts of lead guitar, hinted at previously, are given free reign here, blossoming into more grandiose swathes of noise as the track builds in intensity. Carefully deployed vocals make an appearance too, guttural barks and shrieks adding to the cacophony.

Monoliths have crafted an intriguing debut here, fusing a more exploratory approach with the filth and weight of the heaviest doom. Hopefully this is just the start of their compelling journey into the charred pit of oblivion.

“Monoliths” is available here (UK and Europe) and here (USA)

Band info: facebook

Bismuth – “Unavailing” (Album Review)

By: Jez Feral Beranek-Williams

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 25/11/2015

Label: Dry Cough, De Graanrepubliek, 

Box Records, Tartarus Records,

Viral Age

For me Bismuth is definitely the exception to the rule of this genre, Tanya’s has a great voice and together these two are both talented musicians as a whole, coming across like a slowed down Jucifer filled with heavier than hell distortion permeating your senses, fulfilling the devil’s needs and in the process creating a slab of pure doom at its finest.

“Unavailing” CD//DD//CS//LP track listing:

1. Tethys

2. Of The Weak Willed

3. The Holecene Extinction

4. Solitude and Emptiness

Bismuth is:

Tanya Byrne | Bass, vocals

Joe Rawlings | Drums

The Review

Bismuth started around 2011 and is made up of Bassist, vocalist Tanya Byrne and Drummer Joe Rawlings. They have released a previous EP titled ‘The Eternal Marshes’, a split with Undersmile and in 2014 they released a live album. This is their first full length album, entitled “Unavailing” and is due to be released November 25, 2015.  When I say, full length, what you get is four songs and a shade under an hour of slow, writhing doom, indeed if you read on their facebook page, they describe themselves as "slow" with "permanent tinnitus,” which is the most accurate description. I thought Undersmile was slow doom until I heard Bismuth.

Bismuth are like a slowed down Jucifer filled with heavier than hell distortion permeating your senses, fulfilling the devil’s needs and in the process creating a slab of pure doom at its finest. If you like to drone, then this is definitely the record for you. It's slow and heavy with haunting smeared vocals. Two and a half minutes into "Tethys" is the desperate cries of a fierce woman. It may seem like Tanya Byrne is playing the same thing over and over, but she switches it up about ten minutes into the song, which for its duration is fifteen minutes of slow sodomy. The sweet sounds of an angelic choir come in like surfacing still water and  "Of the Weak Willed" starts out with slow strums as you can hear fingers sliding on the bass. The riff is steady and sedated, a down tempo melody building eleven minutes of ominous distortion. You can hear Tanya shaking her bass to broaden the feedback of her instrument, then her vocals finally come in about two minutes before its climax, ending another sixteen minutes of pure doom.

"The Holecene Extinction" starts out with Joe on the drums, slowing building this twelve minute song, then Tanya starts peaking with her bass tone low and her vocals powerfully ushering an echo. There is a siren of atmospheric metal eight minutes into the song as Tanya growls whilst the erstwhile drummer steadily holds the beat, Tanya’s delivery reminiscent that of a howl from a fierce wolf.  "Solitude and Emptiness" starts out on a high note, but remains distorted as fuck. Joe's drumming is highlighted in this song. It's not just slow drone, he is actually drumming and carrying the song. This is probably the fastest song on the record and also my choice cut from the record, with Tanya coming in with her vocals immediately. The song ends with complete feedback and thus concluding this ‘Unavailing’ journey.  Honestly it would be great if they played this way on all of their songs. Sometimes it's a little to slow for my taste, but its drone and doom after all. 

For me Bismuth is definitely the exception to the rule of this genre, Tanya’s has a great voice and together these two are both talented musicians as a whole.

“Unavailing” will be available at the following links from the 25 November

www.degraanrepubliek.com  | www.drycoughrecords.com | www.box-records.com
www.tartarusrecords.com | viralagerecords.blogspot.com

FFO: Undersmile, Jucifer, Monarch, Horse Latitudes

Band info: facebook | bandcamp