By: Joosep Nilk
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 11/05/2018
Label: Neurot Recordings
CHRCH rightfully cement their
own place as forebearers of a new era of melodic doom.
‘Light
Will Consume Us All“
CD//DD//LP track listing:
1) Infinite
Return
2)
Portals
3) Aether
The Review
Three
years ago a fairly below the radar label put out a belter of a debut in the
form of ’Unanswered Hymns’ from a
then unknown Sacramento doom group. Said label (Battleground Records,
from whom you might still grab the last remaining copies) is now sadly
sunken but the prodigious 'debut', which called for many to exclaim ’masterpiece!’, did attain enough attention
to the quintet to warrant both a court-backed name alteration and many a tour with
like-minded mainstays of the metal scene. Their latest release on the esteemed Neurot sees the-now-CHRCH cranking it
further into the void, bringing payoffs indeed not unlike their label head
legends themselves are known for. Entirely not surprising as this young group
could be ascribed to having a common ethos, still the less astonishing is how equally
hard they manage to crush.
Apropos
it’s almost cliche to talk how well CHRCH operate in the
worlds of the uplifting and downweighing, as it’s damn near their raison
d’etre. Their previous offering that came in the form of mind-shattering split
with the more mud-ridden sludgers Fister (who, as an
aside are coming out with a similarly long-playing, albeit muckier statement right
about as you read this) was demonstration enough of how well they wield both
sides of the heavy spectrum, be it of the sonic or emotive variety.
The
opener of their sophomore is reminiscient of ’Temples’ from said release, in that it equally plays with delicateness
set against colossal discord. With its steadily soaring riffs ’Infinite Return’s’ towering stature in
effect plummets your very being straight into the pits. There’s a deeper sense
of worldweariness at play here, conveyed by the sheer fierceness of the vocals,
with the wails blackened and stern despondency emanating from the
growls. The band steadily sets to sculpt a storm of grandiose proportions that ultimately
beckons forth creatures distantly echoing disquieting cries while the plucking
undercurrent lays deceptively dormant in an uneasy sense of tranquility. The
ominous guitar builds in the background unceasing as lead vocalist Eva Rose’s
lulls during the quiet section become very akin to the timbres of fellow
doom-sayers Subrosa. It’s difficult to imagine a tune crafted
to carry more emotional heft as it plods on unrelenting, coming twice around
for devastation to conclude in a soaring surge that elicits an immense sense of
conciliation.
While the
band has grown evermore well-equipped at crafting solemnity in sorrow, oncoming
Portals is more of a morassy plummet
into the void. With a discordant off-beat lead-in, the track becomes fluidly
unfolding, bringing the pain in waves.The riffs steadily gathering velocity concordant
with the increasing backdrop of the rhythm section as the middle blasts the
gates of hell wide open straight to revelatory anguish. Even at this utmost
dejected inpouring of fury, out of
the mire comes a groove that dissolves any opressiveness built. Embellished by
Rose’s vocal and then a back-and forth between her and second vocalist Chris Lemos
comes a triumphant resolution affirmed by the grandness of riffs and etherealy
sung harmonies.
The band then
pick up the gauntlet of bringing the album together in glorious absolution with
’Aether’ as a steady resounding
descent from the heavens. The admittedly-difficult-to-decipher lyrics seem to
further evoke the band’s funerary sensibilities as the grievous bliss is
brought to light at the tune’s apex. In striking manner the album is closed out
in an outpouring of blackened tumult with what sounds like most whole of the
band chiming in with voice.
Whilst
their debut could perhaps at times have been faulted by borrowing from the
sounds of established acts such as Windhand or Acid King, this tremendous sophomore is a beast all their
own. They do still of course give fair play to tropes and tones of the genre
but even-so CHRCH rightfully cement their own place as forebearers
of a new era of melodic doom. Exhibiting dynamics and songwriting that pays as
much heed to the glory of brandishing riffs aimed at celestial heights as it
does to delivering penance through sheer abrasiveness ’Light Will Consume Us All“ comes as a mighty second assertion. With such ennobling means at hand it is seemly to await what
aural transcendendance they might yet bring forth from the vastness of their
realm.
’Light Will Consume Us All’ is available here