PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Out for a while now, yes but still worth checking out. Doom:VS return with Earthless.
Not renowned for their output level, it is a real joy to see new material emerge from the band who are the embodiment of what emotional Doom Metal is all about.
The brainchild of Draconian’s Johan Ericson, who is well known for producing some of the most crushing, oppressive riffs anywhere in the genre, it is of very little surprise that this is of premier league quality. Joined this time around by the equally gifted Thomas A.G.Jensen of Saturnus fame, the foundations are laid for a true masterpiece of Depressive Doom. Right from the first morose strains of ‘Earthless’, heralding Jensen’s captivating growls, you realise that something rather special is revealing itself before you, whilst not straying particularly far from the tried and tested boundaries that govern this sub genre, the album raises itself above the parapet as a body of work that is just plain better than anything else out there.
Whilst the album shares similarities with its predecessor ’Dead Words Speak’, this offering benefits greatly from the input of Jensen, bringing a taste of the Saturnus vibe to the table, which enhances the performance of Ericson, giving him a greater level of expressive and artistic freedom than before.
As you might expect, there are no two minute fillers on show, each of the six tracks comes in at between six and nine minutes each, and as such have a real individual nature, without becoming tedious and long winded in the delivery. ‘The Slow Ascent’, in particular, is just sublime, an almost Funeral Doom paced start, leading to Jensen’s perfect mix of growls and shouts, conjuring a hopeless and forlorn landscape, carried along on some of the most inspiring guitar work I have heard Ericson produce.
Doom is not just about the music in my view, more over, it should be able to instil a level of feeling, or state of mind that other genres simply can not do. To be able to change the listeners emotional state, to be able to produce a sense of engagement and connectivity with someone is a difficult skill to master, and these guys are past masters at it.
‘White Coffins’ is another track that leapt out at me, again with a riff that can reduce grown men to quivering, sobbing wrecks, a vocal that will lift you to new heights of despair, the two producing an icy cold musical landscape that is a Doom fans delight.
If you are a fan of, or just dabble occasionally into Doom, then this is an album that you really do need to own, fifty odd minutes of emotional charged, haunting, depressive, melancholic music that will stay with you for a very long time indeed.
Track Listing;
1. Earthless
2. A Quietly Forming Collapse
3. White Coffins
4. The Dead Swan Of The Woods
5. Oceans Of Despair
6. The Slow Ascent
Out now via Solitude Productions
https://www.facebook.com/deadwordsspeak
- £5.94
