EP REVIEW: Grim Ravine - "The Light is From Below"

By: Grim Trashcan

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 17/02/2017

Label: Black Bow Records

“The Light is From Below” DD track listing:

1). Shrine of Misery

2). Translunary

3). Hypernova

4). Vacant Mass

The Review:

After my sixth or seventh uninterrupted listen of "The Light is From Below", I almost feel like I can invoke words to properly explain what kind of magic lies within.

Perhaps I measure too much? Sulking over my illuminated keyboard in a poorly lit room, slack-jawed from a day of dealing with life's responsibilities and managing the expectations of others takes its grinding toll. That's where my ritualistic evening reprieve takes form in the sonic conjuring of doom warlocks Grim Ravine. Having been somewhat familiar to this outfits output; the self-titled EP, I was looking forward to hearing what came next.

Hair standing on the back of my neck, chills running from my shoulders across my chest, down my spine and grounding out into the floor is what came next.

The jarring intro to the album's opening track, "Shrine of Misery" makes you appreciate the ability this band has in composing with a long-form sensibility. Imagine a mud-slicked boulder, ripped loose by a torrential downpour and falling ever so destructively towards the bottom of a (forgive the obvious pun) ravine. The bassists tone flash like piano stabs under solar flares of guitar omnipresence. This is the doom of colors, textures and dynamics. Rasped, gasping guttural and freq-sweeping vocalist Gareth Nutbeen holds the listener present by not commanding your ears attention, rather demanding it. They've found the frequency balance here and it's a boulder toss by a behemoth in terms of production nuance in comparison to the first EP. Hats off to whatever entity focused this. 

As the first track settles down, a moment of bleak dynamics and mood-setting takes form in "Translunary". We are met with a hypnotic bass melody accompanied by the unsettling, glistening drips and cavern breaths of eerie presence,  ripped roughshod with an intro that sounds like your high school hippie art teacher having his head smashed into the glass bed of his overhead projector, then the third track "Hypernova" explodes into orbit. A mid-tempo affair, this one rolls like blood down an Orc's maw, only to pause and stretch, intermingle with battle sweat and spittle and drop to the mud. Once again, the sweeping sonic overlays and delicate production nuance don't exist to prove their existence, rather to add to it. Same is true for the singers' addition to this frenzy- he's not there to stand out on the battlefield as an aural target, more of an all- encompassing entity. As this track seizes and contorts to its inevitable demise, I find myself almost wanting to hit repeat to get dragged through once more. The drummers percussive balance sits solidly where it should, no diddling, noodling or gymnastics- a solid frame to hold this all up. It's a lot to hold, mind you. 

The fourth and final track, "Vacant Mass" rises from the depths of a feedback-induced droning lament. It then takes form, with vocal cues and then lifts off with the percussive timing and weight of exactly what the song is called, a mass rises and lifts. Somewhere around the 3 minute mark of this, you feel like you've reached a plateau of experience only to be jarred and shifted in other directions midway through minute 4. Not up or down, just outwards in all directions simultaneously. Halfway through this almost 13 minute affair, the entire mass explodes and you're made to tumble downwards on the monolithic shards of audio landscape. Just as you become familiar with the sense of melody or riff in this new spot, the song drops out and pans back to show you the vast space around you. Consumed by the experience laid from the beginning, they cleverly step you back from all of that and let you gain a sense of relative ease. To be charged and blasted once again into oblivion. 

Thanks Grim Ravine. You are an anomaly in it's purest definition. I can't describe your sounds succinctly enough to give them their due justice or proper praise. For me, that's probably the best compliment I can give. Perhaps I measure too much?

“The Light is From Below” will be available from 17^th February 2017

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

"11 is one Louder": Rising blackened doom dealers Grime Ravine debut "Shrine of Misery" & choose their Top 5 blackened doom albums

On an otherwise unremarkable July evening in 2015, 3 people from Portsmouth decided to meet up with 2 people from Crawley. Past and present members of underground UK bands who were drawn together by a musical appreciation of the slow and heavy. Ale was consumed, obscure bands were discussed and eventually plans were formed to drag their hungover selves to a practice room at the incredibly-doom-ridden time of 10am on a Sunday.

Since that monumental day Grim Ravine released a debut self titled EP in 2015 and will now release “The Light is From Below” on Feb 17th via Black Bow Records.  This new EP contains 4 tracks of suffocating, atmospheric and thoroughly vile sludge metal that is highly recommended for fans of Rwake and Eyehategod. As the band remarks "We are proud to present our latest offering, The Light is from Below. This recording incorporates doom worship, fuzz and misery to create sounds from the abyss."

Suffice to say Grim Ravine are one of the finest purveyors of extreme blackened doom to emerge from the UK and we at The Sludgelord invited guitarist Martin Shouler to share his thoughts on his top 5 blackened doom records, as well as debuting a brand new song from their soon to be released EP, in the form of “Shrine of Misery” and be sure to turn the dial up to 11. 

 
Indian - "From All Purity"

If you're going to do a final album, this is how to do it. A huge filthy beast of an album with one of my favourite vocalists in the genre. Adding the noise element to their sound (probably because they weren't harsh enough on earlier releases??) shows that they were willing to expand their sound, who knows where they would have gone after this...

Wolvserpent -  "Aporia:Kāla:Ananta"

The first half is a beautifully eerie orchestral soundscape which then gives way to a huge wall of distorted guitars and harrowing vocals. Much like taking a long pleasant country walk up a hill, only to fall down a cliff on the other side, break both your legs and be eaten alive by animals. Great stuff.

Culted -  "Below The Thunders of the Upper Deep"

The harsh vocals over droning, doom riffs and general atmosphere make this a very bleak listen. Add in some drone and this is both haunting and very, very heavy. With a vocalist that's never met the rest of the band in person it's surprising how well this album works.

Hell - "II"

Could have chosen any of the trilogy albums for this but "II" was my first introduction to Hell and as good a place as any to start. Moving between dense blackened doom and clean guitars with ease this album is thoroughly unpleasant in the best possible way. A band that truly live up to their name.

Sea Witch - "The Blackened Sea"

Instrumental blackened doom that goes for a dark ambiance rather than all out menace. Crushing riffs and hypnotic guitar rhythms aplenty. A great example of the title and artwork matching the sounds within.  Never judge a book by its cover, but you can judge Sea Witch by theirs. 

Band info: facebook || bandcamp