Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (2007)

Witchcult Today is one of those records that feels so simple and primal that you could just plug in, write it and record it on the spot, and that's not something I can always get down with unless its in the hands of a band like Electric Wizard. The Brits had long mastered their most daunting and crushing extremes with records like Dopethrone and Let Us Prey, and by the later 00s were settling into this catchier flow of raw, effective doom and sludge which I found just as hypnotizing as their formative releases. There is nothing pretentious or boring here, the music can speak for itself, exceedingly basic in construction yet just catchy enough to sing along with; this isn't some exercise in vapid repetition like Jerusalem but something with just enough variation and experimentation to fully immerse the listener whilst slowly punching them in the face.

Noisy, huge walls of fuzz that cascade at a crawled pace through Sabbath-like doom licks, it's that 70s foundation taken out to a wasted extreme, with very little concern for blowing out your speakers or sounding produced or polished...yet, the levels do somehow find a balance. The bass largely just plods along with the rhythm guitar, but that latter is so enormous that it's not about to find any competition in the mix other than Jus Oborn's wavering, drugged vocals, and that's only because they are genetically constructed to pierce through them. The drums might as well be trash cans, as long as they can provide the attention span with a steady pace to follow the catchy drudging. I can't tell you that a single riff on this record is original in any capacity, and yet I still enjoy it that much, because there's such a hideous conviction to how they're delivered. To be fair, they do layer in some melodies and bluesy wailings (as in the bridge of the title track) to create more depth, but this is the sort of record I might hate in the hands of someone less 'cool', if that makes any sense?

There are definitely some more psychedelic escapes here, like the noisy, quivering feedback of the interlude "Raptus" or the the moody mire of "Black Magic Rituals & Perversion", which sounds like the most atmospheric trad doom ever, given some ritualistic clout by the crazy fills and percussion as it transforms into this fuzz-fucked behemoth, only to later transform again into tribal droning noise with what sound like some reversed vocal samples. This shit is some of the most frightening they'd sounded since the aforementioned Dopethrone, and thankfully ground things back on planet Earth with the closer "Saturnine" and it's super-bluesy Sabbath lick and vocals that saturate the audience in stoner bliss, even if their lungs are as clean as a cathedral. Witchcult is just a transitive experience, like some of its own predecessors, the sort of record you come away from different than you went in, staggeringly heavy in tone but strangely accessible other than the weird bits. Cool blokes, cool cover, damn cool tracks, Lovecraftian and occult themes, what fucking else would you sign up for?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.electricfuckinwizard.com/

Bog Wizard vs. Froglord - A Frog in the Bog EP (2022)

Can we start with how awesome the cover art for this split release is? I'm getting total vibes of primitive PC graphics, and by primitive I mean the PEAK. If we saw something like this on a Commodore 64 game's title screen, my bros and I might have creamed our collective corduroys. No surprise then that it is another tripped out recording from Michigan's psychedelic sledgehammer Bog Wizard, this time paired out with the equally outrageous Froglord out of England. There is no scenario in which the two of these groups collide and dungeon level mischief does NOT ensue, so make sure up front that you've run some clean bong water, written your wills, put on your space helmets and whatever random pieces of armor you can sling together to defend yourself from the trudging, sludging and drudging you are about to receive.

Bog Wizard's portion of the split definitely feels in the same wheelhouse as their recent Miasmic Purple Smoke album, that is to say a steady, slow, crush of distorted swill playing out thick, oozing, repetitive grooves that will devolve you into your respective reptilian or amphibious DNA. The vocal tracks are delivered with a barbaric hypnotism, but the band also breaks the heaviness down into some simple bass lines and percussion here. Froglord's contributions, "The Bog" and "The Wizard", both references to their partners in crime (much as "Reptilian Death Squad" did for them), are slightly more robust, accessible stoner metal jams with great tones, and a cool vocal that sounds like Rob Zombie got punched square in the gut, but gets a little more hoarse when they get to a chorus part. To be honest, both sides of this equation do complement each other well, they're both well within that wheelhouse of savage, simple doom and sludge that was undoubtedly inspired by Robert E. Howard's Conan fiction and dangerous degrees of hashish consumption. The Brits go for a brighter tone whereas Bog Wizard sounds more dreary, raw and repressed by design.

What's even cooler, is that in addition to how their individual contributions celebrate one another, there are two directly collaborative tracks named for one another, and these are some of its funnest moments, with the "The Frog Lord" mantra being repeated against some sizzling synth effects, and the aforementioned vocals attacking you from all angles as the tripping turns paranoiac. "The Bog Wizard" sounds like Clutch on a bad bender after listening to some Conan or Buzz*oven records, and it's just kind of cool to see a split recording taken this far...in general, the bands can remain a bit disparate and then the whole experience feels forced, but here it's all quite balanced. The songs are all really simple, and I wouldn't mind either band getting a little more riffy, complex or experimental for some added depth, but it seems like a good time was had by all, and if you're a fan of their individual records, then there is no reason to skip this one.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/releases
https://froglord.bandcamp.com/

Sons of a Wanted Man - Kenoma (2020)

Les Acteurs de l'Ombre must have the market cornered for Euro bands that combine elements of black metal, post-metal and sludge into coherent, unified sounds, and Sons of a Wanted Man is their latest export, a Belgian band which does this seamlessly on their debut full-length Kenoma. In fact, this cross hybridization feels so natural in their hands that I no longer care where one of the genres begins and ends, just that it's all being battered over my head in an emotional, earnest outpouring of snarls, chords, fat bass lines and intense drumming. That's not to say I'm entirely impressed with this record, in fact I was zoning out a number of times due to what I consider excessive song lengths with a lot of predictable patterns, but Kenoma is a respectable package at least.

I can't stress enough how much the element of surprise is important to me when I'm hearing a new record, perhaps not as much in very traditional metal styles, but certainly when I've got a band in a newer medium that gels as well as this one. To that extent, I found a lot of the chord progressions throughout this fairly familiar, though they're heavily saturated with a full bodied distortion, and a ton of searing passion in the rasped, black metallic vocals. Even where the band will just let the guitars trudge along by themselves, like in the depths of the title track, it becomes a little too redundant, expected and patience-draining. That's not to say these choices are bad, but there's just so little to actually snag my ear as I'm passing through. In a lot of cases, the band will shift between these mid-paced, driving chord sections redolent of stuff like Katatonia, and blasted black metal mode, but otherwise the mood of the sequences doesn't really change around so much with the tempos, it's all a wearying gray that, like many shoegaze or blackgaze artists, attempts to compensate with a wall of force in the guitars and beats, and that doesn't always translate into memorable compositions, though it's certainly pleasant and consistent.

Now, occasionally they'll throw something over the top, some slight touch of dissonance created in the churning chords or the melodic shadows cast by the upper strings, and that creates immersion for me, but so many of the bottom end rhythm riffs on this record are just bleak and void of interest, such as the chugging at the heart of "Serpentine", where the same note is beaten to death (fortunately this is one of the shorter pieces). In other times, you'll get just a little bit of the unexpected like the drifty, dreamy vocals in "Canine Devotion", and that definitely helps to flesh out the experience. If you're seeking out something like a Slowdive or Hum balanced against black and sludge, I think you could do far worse than Sons of a Wanted Man. The murky production of the guitars is quite honest and raw, the lyrics have a nice philosophical, pleading style akin to intellectual hardcore, and the cover art and packaging is tremendous. Musically, it's solid, especially if you don't mind some familiarity with the basic building blocks, but I can tell from this that there's plenty of potential territory to grow into in terms of including more off-the-beaten-path melodic riffs or chords, or atmospheric passes that have a little more hypnotic effect that is crucial for this mix.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://soawm.bandcamp.com/

In Cauda Venenum/Heir/Spectrale split (2016)

Here's a pretty interesting split released through the Emanations imprint of Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions, featuring a number of French bands, one of which (In Cauda Venenum) has already released their debut through the label last year. The stylistic representation here is a mix of black metal, post-black and sludge aesthetics, but the way the track list has been splayed out is to have the bands alternate between tracks, rather than simply take up 'sides' or 'chunks' of the play length all to themselves. Ultimately, one would hope that this means the materials will all flow together into one conceptual whole, but I actually found that while the genres really don't stray too distant from the three I had mentioned, that the differences in production values between the tracks can be rather disjointed, and where the riffing of the songs dives too deep into one particular area it also can create a little bit of an imbalance to the recording as a whole.

That said, I did not find much of the material here particularly unpleasant. In fact, the more ambient sequences, like Spectrale's "Sagittarius A" or the acoustic "Al Ashfar" and "Crepuscule" are quite nice, even if offset by the cruder bowels of sludgy, doomy, driving black metal, which peaks on the nearly 10-minute affront "Upon the Masses", a tune which at times seems like Altar of Plagues channeling Black Sabbath, streams of tremolo bleeding erupting from drudging, downtrodden chord swells. Their closer "Sectarism" is another highlight, with a more dissonant post-metal structure that also summons up a lot of those tremolo picked sequences. In Cauda Venenum, on the other hand, only contribute one piece, a 14+ minute remake of "Laura Palmer's Theme" from Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack, patched together from samples, long and sparse passages featuring a lot of sparse and dramatic instrumentation, driven by tinny beats and contrasted to sludgy distortion and a couple melodic black metal ruptures which compare closely enough to some of Heir's writing. The vocals used across the album are generally a rasp which can be repressed by the volume and tone of the other instruments, but consistent enough with a lot of what you'll hear from the post-black scene.

Heir really brings up the heavy end, especially during those double bass batteries in "Upon the Masses", while Spectrale serves as a sort of polar opposite, and In Cauda's Venenum's 'cover' interpretation bridges between the two poles. There are some intense, emotional moments strewn throughout its landscape, although conceptually it seems a little scattered...if the bands had just been produced/mixed a little closer to one another in tone, it could have been more effective as a solitary listening experience. But surely I've heard split recordings which are much more awkward and random than the pairing here, and there's a raunchy elegance here which kept me elevated past the potential boredom the longer tracks might have evoked. Not terribly resonant or catchy, but it was not absent of those passionate rushes of notes and atmosphere that put groups like Agalloch, Alcest and their peers on the radar of an audience looking for something graceful and gazy; these qualities are simply sandwiched between the acoustics of one of the participants and a tendency from Heir to delve further into pure black metal when it serves them.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/incdvnnm/
https://www.facebook.com/heirbm/
https://www.facebook.com/spectrale.bx/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf

Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Exile (2015)

Blackened sludge metal is hardly a novelty by now, but what I will say for Regarde Les Hommes Tomber (named for a French film) is that they've captured the hybrid just as professionally as any other band, by which I mean the production on this sophomore effort is truly outstanding. Enough that I'd recommend you listen to it for that alone, it's just so well balanced. Thick and juicy bass lines tunnel beneath a landslide of mid-paced driving chords and eerier note patterns while the front man alternates between the angst-ridden barked vocals common to the medium, and some deeper gutturals and snarls which feel more maddening and decrepit.

Drums splash and thunder with a mixture of tribal intensity and upbeat outbursts above which the rhythm guitars transform themselves into more post-black/shoegaze patterns, only to alleviate back to the predicted angry Neurosis crawl. There is also a real sense of 'lows and highs' created by the contrast of giving us a few peaceful seconds to recoup and then just laying into us with these melancholic floods of notation which capture that layered emotional effect this niche of metal music is so known for. Nothing being performed is necessarily complex, the band isn't attempting to rival Mastodon or even incorporate the grooving textures of a Gojira...they thrive solely on those 3-4 note or chord patterns while letting the sum momentum of the material force its way into you and then over you, and you'll feel the walls shake to those beats while your neighbors flee from the torture in the front man's inflection.

Sound-wise, Exile absolutely nails it, but where I felt the tunes were slightly lacking is in the department of individually memorable licks. They all serve the band's bludgeoning aesthetic well enough, with hints of mystique and post-industrial annihilation, but few of them had me crawling over myself to continuously replay the album, and there was in fact a sense of sameness to the entire proceedings, even though Regarde Les Hommes Tomber do their damnedest to provide some variation amid the calms and turbulence. But there are certainly some riffs here which are vastly less interesting than a few others, and I constantly felt like just one more note progression out of left field here or there really would have rounded this all off. Regardless, Exile is a competent work which would be easy enough to recommend to fans of this style from both sides of the Atlantic, whether your poison is Isis, Neurosis, Cult of Luna, or even stuff like Tombs and Castevet.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (distress smashed on walls)

https://www.facebook.com/rlhtband

Antagoniste - The Myth of Mankind (2015)

The sludge genre is not an initial attractor to me personally, not to say there haven't been a few dozen outstanding bands and works that I've relished within this style, but I find a lot of the recordings put aesthetics like guitar tone and repetition above quality riff scripting and thus I rarely come away with any sort of emotional resonance. Reading in advance about Antagoniste, it seemed this would be a little left of center, using a bit of that heavier, simpler chord structure and tone but twisting and glazing it with all manner of progressive departures, blackgaze influence and lots of change ups in tempo and purpose. As it turns out, The Myth of Mankind is a bit of an oddball, not an unusual fit for I, Voidhanger records which has produced a lot of interesting, unique, often enigmatic artists; but I do feel like this debut lacks some amount of the cohesion and control it might take to leave a bigger footprint.

I won't go so far as to claim it's completely 'chaotic' in nature, since there is plenty of structure and logical succession to the riff patterns. In most of the tracks, you've got these fat, drudging chord patterns that are sauteed in ringing, chiming, atonal guitars for atmosphere. Almost like a mesh of Isis and later Ulcerate, only which black metal charges thrown in that are heralded by the snarlier, wilder rasp vocals. It's also not quite as 'dry' in feel as that comparison might seem, since the French project has a lot more happening at any given moment. Tracks like "The Barren Lands" and "The Fall of Man" are at once both shining and claustrophobic, with vocals that follow few rules or boundaries and just roil in their own viscera. Some of the low end rhythm guitars and bass bounce and churn along with an almost mechanical groove metal precision, and the ultimate result is that the album takes on a sort of organic industrial dichotomy where their own leaden, deadened limbs have been used to replace robots on an assembly line, and the unnerving nature of the hissed rasp seems like a few rubber conveyor belts came loose and are bleeding oxygen as they whip about the space. The drums are a little busier than I'd have expected though, and they do slightly alleviate some of the moments here where I kept zoning out.

As a more pessimistic, vocal-driven alternative to an experience like the Blut Aus Nord 777 trilogy, which experimented with a similar droning, ambient/industrial characteristic but didn't get quite so calamitous or sinister, The Myth of Mankind is a functional enough record. The issues for me were that: 1) the riffing here is far from exceptional, bland patterns of chords that never really took any unexpected turns, and were just expressions of volume and fuzzed, gut-ripping tone rather than mesmerizing hooks...perhaps too accurate to their mechanistic disposition, and 2) the vocals really didn't feel adequately painful or tortured, just a mass of arbitrary hisses and snarls that felt more like the mating of wounded animals than any sort of poignant, memorable force within the music. I do appreciated bands stepping outside the circle, but it's not like this sort of hybrid hasn't been attempted before more successfully. If you're into this really dissonant, soundscape sort of album which pretty liberally contrasts its own lights and darks without any restraint, then this might prove an unsettling ride into some crypto-philosophical terror zone, but this really didn't push the right buttons for me, and apart from a few moments (as in "The Black Sun") where that sunshine and hatred fell into a sudden congruity, or the ambient escapism took over completely, it felt a little too forced into asymmetry, a square peg that didn't quite fit into its round hole.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Antagoniste/674602765904825

Kongh - Sole Creation (2013)

As much as my eyes might roll up at the mention of 'sludge' anywhere, one of the most overflown pipelines of punishment to emerge over the past 10-15 years of metal music, even my jaded arse has to admit that there are quite a number of acts who perform in these parameters with more than a mere adequacy. Sole Creation is only my first exposure to the Simian-obsessed Swedes Kongh, but I feel quite confident adding them to that list based on what I'm hearing here alone. Adventurous, bright, and bearing the production of a fleet of lumber-hauling semi trucks, this is an album which understands completely how to avoid falling into the claptrap of recycled Sabbathian/Buzz*ven stoner riffage; spreading the wealth across a range of busily calculated grooves, monstrous drudges, and even some atmospheric tremolo picking.

While I've not always been interested in the majority of bands pursuing this particular style, I have to say that the production has come leaps and bounds from where it was in the 90s. The volume and depth on Sole Creation is simply enormous, but even at its densest, where the drums are thundering along under the thick textures of rhythm guitars (for instance, late in "The Portals"), you still get a lot of clarity. The tone on the guitars is really raw, huge and abrasive, and yet it's not inaccessible and never obscures the finer details. The thump of bass is readily felt, even if the instrument's note progressions never really compete with the guitar riffing, or stand out from it. The drums definitely remind me a lot of Mastodon, that ever conscious style of shifting rock and jazz grooves crashing against the weight of the guitar, but in this case they're less focused on acrobatic athleticism and more on pure striking power. Really, though, there is nothing on this album which measures up to that massively saturated guitar tone, buzzing along like a troop of angry tree-cutters and transforming even the simplest note patterns into bruises on the listener's paralyzed body.

The vocals, oh the vocals. There are a number of styles being employed, from the standard blackened growls you hear on a lot of 21st century sludge, to a far more interesting set of clean tones channeling everything from Ozzy Osbourne's style of wavering, eerie pitch (old Black Sabbath and St. Vitus are good reference points) to a more layered melodic richness which occasionally reminded me of a hovering, mid register Layne Staley. The result is that Kongh feels like a traditional doom act enveloped in a more contemporary epidermis of slogging sludge, and this compounds the albums versatility. Throw in some more spacious, tremolo picked walls of guitar that tease a bit of a black metal element, and some muddy, solemn guitars that flirt with a cleaner tone ("Skyming") and the four considerable tracks here (across 45 minutes) never run out of ideas to fling at the listener like the ape on the cover must fling trees at unfortunates who happen on by. Granted, not every riff really sticks, and the songs aren't the most memorable I've heard within the medium, but I can't imagine fans of anything from early Baroness and Mastodon, to Ilsa or Ortega, Cult of Luna, Electric Wizard, hell even Count Raven or Terra Firma not enjoying the hell out of this thing.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.facebook.com/KonghDoom

Ortega - 1634 (2010)

I'm not sure where my inherent aversion to a lot of sludge metal began, but down through the years I've been turned off by releases in that field far more often than not. There are, truthfully, a few dozen albums of the style that appeal to me, some greatly so, but on the other hand, a lot of the trawling Neurosis/Isis knockoffs and post-Sabbath/Buzzoven riff matrices that occupy both sides of this all too narrow spectrum feel so intrinsically bland to my ears that even with a blackened crust on top they simply lack the nuance and writing to stick with me. I say this because Ortega, a Dutch outfit seeing their 2010 debut reissued through Aesthetic Death this year, strikes such a rare balance between melody and potency that they took very little time in catching my attention and overcoming the mental hurdles I've faced in this category.

1634 is a maritime conceptual album, or as they dub themselves, 'ocean doom', and I feel that the musical content does a pretty job of living up to that handle. Passages of clean, ringing guitars are fused into a greater whole of drudging-doom riffs, but all are produced with a lot of weight and clarity. The rhythm guitar riffs are not necessarily innovative or nuanced, but the configurations of chords are strong enough that they keep the listener engaged through 6-7 minute track lengths. What really ties this all together, though, are the soaring and eloquent melodies that seem like slowed, subdued sea shanty paeans that are balanced expertly against the crash of the chords in the backdrop. You'll hear some of the better of these in pieces like "Shipwrecked" and "Octagon", but they are present throughout most of the disc, measuring off well against the subtler clean breaks and powering doom rhythms. As if they were some glorious tide enforcing the group's refusal to devolve into the ennui I often associate with the style and themes. The drums vary between the hard hitting grooves necessary for the sludge sequences and the slow, tribal climbs redolent of Neurosis (like the intro to "The Siren"), and the bass is thuggish and thumping enough to make its presence known here.

In addition, the band incorporate some beautiful, atmospheric relishes to the standard formula instruments, like a soft glaze of moody synthesizers or a guest violin player that really escalates the emotional narrative of "The Siren" and "Octagon". Vocals are a more rasped and tormented play on the traditional Neurosis bark, but there are also soothing, cleaner inflections to steer softer moments on the record. Altogether, the varied instruments and dynamics here succeed in as starved, semi-captivating journey across the waves. There were a few moments in which I didn't think the transitions worked, like the instrumental intro "Still" which could really just be any random bunch of dreamy stoner or indie-rockers leading up to the far more resonant "Into the Waves", but even to that piece you can develop a solid, internal vision of sitting by some ocean docks while the early boat traffic arrives and departs, a solitary gull wheeling off in the distance. Though the style of 1634 is not quite the same, I'd say the record has a load of crossover appeal for fans of maritime proponents like Germans Ahab or Mastodon's Leviathan, or a snug weekend affair with Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, but without a doubt those that like airier doom with a lot of musicality, or progressive sludge pundits like Cult of Luna or Isis (Oceanic) will weigh this anchor and hoist its sails proudly.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (this sinking cage is pulling us down)

https://www.facebook.com/ortegadoom

Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom (2008)

After a bit of a misstep with Somewhere Along the Highway, I was hesitant to pick up Eternal Kingdom.  In fact, it had already been out for several months before I procured a copy of it, which was a poor decision on my part, because Eternal Kingdom is damn good. Unlike Somewhere Along the Highway, Eternal Kingdom starts on with an engaging riff and does not take long to get moving. Unlike previous Cult of Luna releases in which it takes minutes to hear vocals, “Owlwood” is full of their usual Neurosis-lite hardcore screams.  

“Owlwood” hits like any Cult of Luna song; they vary the riffs and tempo enough to keep things interesting while making sure the heavy moments are oppressive and bleak and the slower moments offer moments of pause and reflection.  The best quality of Cult of Luna is their ability to offer slower and softer passage that do not become boring, and this quality is on full display in the opener. The melody is constantly evolving and staying interesting, even during the slower portions of the song, of which there are a few. 

The second track is “Eternal Kingdom,” which opens with a brooding riff the guitar and bass share until eventually diverging into an occasionally dissonant harmony.  If any track can be called repetitive on the album, this is it, but despite not varying the tempo or the melody throughout the first 100 seconds of the song, the vocals carry it along nicely until the song transforms into something a bit more frantic.  In fact, the tempo changes are frequent after the opening segment of the song, and the fast/slow/fast dynamic manages to keep things interesting.

The third song, “Ghost Trail,” is one of the standout tracks on the album.  At almost 12 minutes long, “Ghost Trail” comprises about a fifth of the album’s run time, and it takes advantage of every second of its run time.  Unlike “Eternal Kingdom,” which works largely based on the band’s ability to go from heavy to soft and loud to slow, “Ghost Trail’ is like a series of two long crescendos, peaking a bit after six minutes in and then again at the end.  It is the type of song that leaves you exhausted, and it’s nice Cult of Luna provides a brief instrumental interlude before getting back to the heavier stuff with “Mire Deep.”  

Though the first half of the album feels a bit stronger, the second half, which I count as “Mire Deep” and everything after it, does not lose much momentum either.  They combine the elements that make “Ghost Trail” such a success a second time in “Curse,” which is only about half the length of “Ghost Trail” but may be the heaviest and most frenetic song on the album. The album closer, “Following Betulas,” is also excellent and closes with synthesized horns and militaristic drumming, which is just weird enough to be a perfect fit.

Eternal Kingdom is an album I wish I could apologize to for not trusting it to be good.  I was underwhelmed by Somewhere Along the Highway, but Eternal Kingdom feels like the final draft of something that was rushed out the door in Somewhere Along the Highway; it is polished, varied, and interesting.  While it may not be Cult of Luna’s finest hour, fans of the genre have no excuse not to pick this one up.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://cultofluna.com