Album review: Abyssal Rift - Extirpation Dirge (2023)

Abyssal Rift - Extirpation Dirge

USA

Sentient Ruin Laboratories

 

The cover art (by Jesse Nihil) beguiles and perfectly complements the music therein; a charred blackened being emerging from the darkness with vengeance in its eyes and an open mouth dribbling with hatred and curses.
 
“Extirpation Dirge” is a musical journey for falling into a hole in the ground; careening through a winding network of tunnels before you are released into the Abyss. As you fall freely you feel the hands of the damned reaching out to touch and grab you, the weeping choir resounding. You hear, from beneath, the echoing roar of the beast which signifies your impending end……wwwwuuuuuurrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!
 
Helmed by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Max Auxier with drums by David Mahoney and mixing/mastering from Will Killingsworth, Abyssal Rift’s innovation is to seamlessly fuse cavernous pounding black/death with death doom and progressive/space rock plus a sprinkling of post-metal. Reads like a confused musical clusterfuck but I assure you it is not (also assure you that I am not confused hahah); I marvel at how many musical styles I am experiencing almost simultaneously, while nonetheless encountering the same dark being as depicted on the cover art.
 
This journey is six tracks long with a running time of less than 37 mins; it twists & turns, pummels, and pulls you apart, leaving you broken and bloodied, wanting to get back on that rollercoaster to Hell…………a must! (Unkle Superion)

 

Album review: Cauchemar - Rosa Mystica (2022)

 

Cauchemar - Rosa Mystica

 

Canada

 

Temple of Mystery Records / Cursed Ritual 

 

 
Cauchemar are probably one of the best bands in modern heavy metal/doom, as every release I’ve heard from them are amazing. The music presented on Cauchemar’s latest album “Rosa Mystica” is nothing short of breathtaking, combining the best of traditional doom and heavy metal with a vibrant production that gives the whole thing a somewhat live essence. Ever since their debut EP, “La Vierge Noire”, Cauchemar has procured a niche for themselves within the underground, and their latest (and third) full-length further cements their consistency and reputation as a band. The French-sung vocals are an integral facet to Cauchemar’s sound, so I’m delighted to see they’ve stayed true to this approach. Stand-out tracks: “Rouge Sang” “Danger De Nuit” “Rosa Mystica” 

Album review: Kalmo - Gehinnom (2021)

Kalmo - Gehinnom

Finland

Sliptrick Records

Kalmo is a Finnish one-man project playing a kind of Black/Doom with a very distinct Finnish vernacular, especially with the vocals, which are thick and expressive. Neither a growl, nor a clean vocal. The music overall has a pretty dark feel to it, and the songs are mostly slow as the riffs create patterns that do not really pick up speed and mostly stay the same the whole time. The vocals definitely take some getting used to, and I think if the vocals were more aggressive, or if they were actual tortured screams, the project would have sounded 10 times more interesting. However, one should not disregard the fact that the band is still in its development phase. And I can even find some enjoyable elements in their sound, especially with the riffing style, which I think if the band continues to develop, they can really come up with a strong effort and sound of their own. The total length of this album clocks in at 27 minutes. If you have the patience to sit through such a length and endure such a slow style of Blackened Doom music, then you should definitely give it a listen. Not bad, but I think the band has the potential to improve. (HT)

Album review: Telluric Effluvium - Dissolution of the Threefold Self (2020)

Telluric Effluvium - Dissolution of the Threefold Self

USA/Mexico

Hostile Records

I have always understood that playing slow music like this is more difficult than most people may realize, since you have to keep the listener trapped. Funeral/Doom cult Telluric Effluvium are no strangers to the craft. 

It’s all about the aura the song and/or album conjures, including what is transmitted through the music. On this album especially, the structures of the songs are arranged with delicacy and precision. Mostly it is calm, but sometimes it is chaotic. Calm can be seen as a long descent into an underworld of dark emotions. An amalgam of fetid, funereal and melancholic thoughts. The production and sound is excellent. Of course, being a Funeral Doom Metal band (by this I mean that the music manifests at a slow speed) all that quality can be appreciated much better. Beyond the aforementioned subgenre, I can also hear some Death/Doom segments when the band steps on the gas a bit, particularly with the vocals, which seem to be erupting in an ultra deep and unhinged way.

All in all, I truly enjoyed listening to this true and epic work with its dark and rotten essence. What a way to release a debut album. This is exactly how it should be done. Recommended! (Catacombs Walker)