Posts Tagged ‘sludge’

Album of the day: Cult Of Occult – S/T

Posted on Saturday, August 18th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from The Sleeping Shaman: Writing a title-track to depict a record’s chosen concept, emotion, atmosphere or ideology can often be no simple task. Writing a band-title-track, however, must be an even more well-considered process in order to come up with that perfectly self-defining sound that will inevitably become your band’s signature, your statement of intent and your career staple song.

Many of the greats have succeeded: Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Angel Witch, whilst countless other lesser known eponymous songs lie unused, unplayed and unwanted; destined to remain idle as dust-gathering album tracks or, in the worst cases, as unwanted old-era material. Rounding out their utterly devastating debut full-length with the sprawling, vast and mesmerisingly horrific Cult of Occult, the band of the same name have absolutely nailed it in the most brutal fashion possible. This one track alone is a near perfect template of scintillating death-doom, with as much sludge and gore as you could yearn for from a quite remarkable new act.

Hailing from Lyon, France, COO’s moniker may initially give off the grimacing thunder chills of some freakishly patronising gimmick. But after just 5 seconds of opening barrage ‘Blurry and Muzzy’, all notions of this being a potentially humourous romp into tired NWOBHM pastures have been crushed under a bloodied size-12 jackboot. Acting as the anaesthetic to a torturous extraction of grizzled ear membranes, this 8-minute lead-off pitch numbs the mind with a blunt, yet refreshingly straightforward sludge bludgeon. A ‘sludgeon’, if you will…anybody?!

It’s becoming rarer and rarer to find vocalists with such sure-fire ferocity as to sound as though they’re gargling the blood of some recently sacrificed mountain goat, but COO have one such force behind the mic. His gut-wrenching howl doesn’t leave the ears after the end of each bout of riff-surging venom and marries perfectly with a bass-end rumble which sits lower than an Atlantis basement.

By choosing anonymity for the names of their band members, these filth-blending Frenchmen clearly wish to remain as an entity, rather than a humanoid collective and with simple and dark, yet powerful artwork courtesy of CPG, this does feel very much like a demonic cult.

Continue reading: Cult Of Occult – S/T – CD/LP/DD 2012 review | The Sleeping Shaman

Tags: Album of the day, Cult Of Occult, Hammerheart Records, occult, Pete Green, sludge, The Sleeping Shaman
Posted in 2012, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »

Album of the day: Eagle Twin – The Feather Tipped The Serpent’s Scale

Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Metal Review: Something I find very appealing about Utah’s Eagle Twin is the fact that there’s not another band currently kicking around that sounds quite like them. I’ve seen them lumped alongside a handful of other droning sludgers, which I suppose is fair, but this duo truly ...read more

Album of the day: Samothrace – Reverence to Stone

Posted on Friday, July 20th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Blistering.com: The staying power of Samothrace’s 2008 album Life’s Trade should not be understated. Melodic sludge at its bare minimum best, Life’s Trade was everything the style is and isn’t at the same time, meaning, that instead of being driven down in an avalanche of messy distortion, ...read more

Album of the day: Coffinworm – Great Bringer Of Night (LP)

Posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2012

Praise for Coffinworm‘‘s Great Bringer Of Night from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Great Bringer Of Night was the 2009 demo from these Midwestern blackened doomlords, and has now been remastered by James Plotkin, had a couple extra tracks tacked on (alternate versions of tracks from their Profound Lore release), and ...read more

Album of the day: Adrift For Days – Come Midnight…

Posted on Friday, June 29th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Metal as Fuck: Prepare to be compressed by the enormous weight of Adrift for Days‘ Come Midnight album. It’s a beast. A monster. A thing of beauty and awe-inspiring delight; and I love it. From the opening waves of feedback and doomy sludge vibes of i.A Premonition ...read more

Album of the day: Stoneburner – Sickness Will Pass

Posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2012

Praise for Stoneburner‘s Sickness Will Pass from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: “Play At Maximum Volume” it says here, right on the face of the cd. Well, OF COURSE! Duh. Stoneburner, from PDX, are another sludgier-than-thou (and maybe than Thou) metal band, whose debut full-length is brought to us by the ...read more

New Compilation of The Best Stoner/Doom Australia Has To Offer; Free Download

Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Drone from the Underside of the Earth is a FREE digital compilation featuring Australia’s best stoner, sludge, doom and drone bands, featuring the likes of Space Bong, Hydromedusa, Adrift for Days, Looking Glass, In Trenches, No Anchor, Drowing Horse, Sons of the Ionian Sea, Summonus, DEAD, Futility, Clagg  and more ...read more

Album of the day: Crown – The One

Posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Lovingly pinched from The Inarguable: Crown (two lovely French lads and their pet drum machine) do an excellent job of synthesizing the pounding, crushingly low trance of bands like Buried At Sea and YOB and a sort of post / post-black sound (shudder) without the abominable kitsch. Once you get ...read more

Album of the day: Lord Mantis – Pervertor

Posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Metal Review: Good hygiene is important; it’s a sign of maturity and, more basically, evolutionary fitness. Society expects cleanliness. But for some of us, that primal little devil inside who so enjoyed flinging us headlong into mud puddles and dirt piles as kids just refuses to grow ...read more

Album of the day: Black Breath – Sentenced To Life

Posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from Stereokiller.com: The first few seconds of Black Breath’s Sentenced To Life play in waves of backwards revolution. In 2010, Black Breath released their debut LP, Heavy Breathing, an enthralling combination of early 80s hardcore and vintage thrash metal that found modernized revitalization, the band’s fundamental understanding of ...read more