PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
This second album from New York trio Occultation is a dark, eerie and esoteric opus which combines classic elements of doom metal, progressive rock and ambient electronics into a package which is atmospheric, thought-provoking and strangely pleasant in more or less equal measures.
Ploughing a furrow somewhere between the darkest elements of 70s prog and Blues Pills-style retrospection, the most impressive element of this hypnotic opus is the vocal performance of Viveca Butler (possibly known to some PM readers via her appearance on Beastmilk’s ‘Stranger Attractors’ album – a collaboration which prompted the singer to recruit producer Kurt Balou for this project), who – in a really strange and uncomfortably uncompromising manner – reminds very much of an extremely ethereal King Diamond, especially in her phraseology. Edward Miller’s guitars, meanwhile, crash and cascade around the rich and sonorous rhythm patterns produced by Butler and bassist Annu Lilja, building layers of beautifully harmonious chaos around the dark, brooding foundation of each and every song.
With Balou’s production drawing out every sombre and melancholic note of not only Butler’s vocals but the also dark precision of the underpinning performances.
Tracklist:
Intro / The First Of The Last / Laughter In The Halls Of Madness / All Hallows Fire / The Place Behind The Sky / The Dream Tide / Intermission / Forever Hereafter / Silence In The Ancestral House
Recommended listening: All Hallows Fire
‘Silence In The Ancestral House’ is out now via Invictus Productions (Profound Lore in North America).
- £18.76
