ALBUM REVIEW: Chrch, "Light Will Consume Us"

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

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Amenra - "Mass VI"

By: Victor Van Ommen


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/10/2017

Label: Neurot Recordings

Amenra’s music is real and comes across as brutally honest. The formula (sonic + emotional heft) = (a heavy album) is one that’s been done many times before, but what Amenra does that sets them apart from the pack is the diligence they use when drinking from the well of inspiration. Amenra makes their listener feel and live with them. This keeps Amenra in touch with why they started making music in the first place. It’s this artistic integrity that helps make “Mass VI” what it is. 

“Mass VI” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1), Children of the Eye

2). Edelkroone

3). Plus Pres de Toi (Closer to You)

4). Spijt

5). A Solitary Reign

6). Diaken

The Review:

“Mass VI” came out on 20^th October and its arrival was marked by a number of shows – neigh, performances – that if the local press is anything to go by, really left a mark. The short and long of it is, when Amenra puts out a record, a shadow falls on the world.

Thematically, this Belgian five piece looks to the darker side of life for inspiration. Focused on heartbreak, sickness, anger and frustration, Amenra uses music as a vehicle to cope with these things. The result, certainly in the case of this new album “Mass VI,” is one that is both sonically and emotionally heavy.  What sets Amenra apart from the pack is the rawness to their sound. It’s as though the top layer of skin has been removed and alcohol is rubbed on the exposed skin to clean the wound. Painful, absolutely, but the cleansing process is needed in order for the healing to begin.

As far as opening tracks are concerned, “Children of the Eye” holds its own. A slow, quiet fade in, underscored by a distant siren, starts the procession. It takes a full minute before a clean version of the song’s main riff is introduced. Slow and brooding, the siren and guitars twist around each other until finally the guitar takes hold, distortion on, and then there’s no turning back.  Singer Colin H. van Eeckhout screams his lungs out as the band plods on. There’s pain in his voice, there’s anguish in the music, and it all comes together as a moment of reflection. It’s not until six minutes in that band lets up a little – a light attack and delicate, falsetto singing – but a short time later, the waterfall of hurt returns. “Children of the Eye” leaves one helluva mark.

The spoken word intermezzo that follows is in itself heavy. Spoken with a Flemmish accent, it tells a story of how the heavens bleed as a form of punishment for the artist. Perseverance conquers here and “Mass VI” makes its way into the next movement, “Plus Pres de Toi”. This song – with the exception of the spoken-word-into-instrumental-bang, “Spijt” – is the shortest on the record yet still serves its purpose as the centerpiece track. Its manic riffing is kept down by the slow drumming and the blood curdling screams. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel, no let up, just a solid attack of post-metal-post-rock. Even when Amenra lightens the load in the song’s midsection, the mood remains bleak and hopeless.

The two songs that close the album account for half the album’s playing time. Starting with “A Solitary Reign,” Amenra gets as close to accessible as they’ll ever come. This track is the one that’s most indebted to the band’s heavy metal influences, yet still manages to remain as unique as the dark tones that led us here. There’s no doubt that this is the strongest track on “Mass VI,” which has as much to do with how the song is structured as well as the vibe it exudes.

“Daiken” closes things out as an 11 minute culmination of everything that makes Amenra what they are. The heavy, distorted attack is laid up against moments of softer tones, similar to what Opeth used to do. But Amenra takes this soft/hard juxtaposition in their own hands, owning the softer playing style just as much they do the raw onslaught of their brand of post-metal.

Amenra is a Belgian post-metal band that makes music on their terms and their timeline. On “Mass VI,” they translate their demons clearly to the music. The band waits for the inspiration to come to them before they make music. They don’t seek out inspiration. Because of this, Amenra’s music is real and comes across as brutally honest. The formula (sonic + emotional heft) = (a heavy album) is one that’s been done many times before. What Amenra does that sets them apart from the pack is the diligence they use when drinking from the well of inspiration. Amenra makes their listener feel and live with them. This keeps Amenra in touch with why they started making music in the first place. It’s this artistic integrity that helps make “Mass VI” what it is. 

“Mass VI” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Ufomammut - "8"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 22/09/2017

Label: Supernatural Cat |

 Neurot Recordings

The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

“8” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Babel
2. Warsheep
3. Zodiac
4. Fatum
5. Prismaze
6. Core
7. Wombdemonium
8. Psyrcle

The Review:

This time out, Ufomammut just let it flow. Where “Eve” and “Oro” focused on a huge sound and concept, the follow up “Ecate” tried to bring things back to something resembling normalcy. It failed, which in the case of “Ecate” was fantastic, because Ufomammut still own that crushing tone they’ve trademarked.

With the release of “8,” Ufomammut have tried once again to bring things back home. This new record focuses on the strength of individual songs. Sure, some of these tracks are produced in such a way that they feed into each other, but this is the first time since about 2010’s “Eve,” that any single song can be plucked from the album’s playlist as a standalone specimen of what Ufomammut is.

So what is Ufomammut? Well, if it’s chaotic, strobe like synths you’re looking for while a thick, aggressive riff bears down at you, look no further than “Core.” If what you’re looking for is a strangely timed, crunchy riff that hints at being catchy, then “Fatum” is a good place to ignite the rockets. “Warsheep” and “Zodiac” provide the rolling march that Ufomammut has gotten so damn good at, so tune into these two cuts if that’s what whets your whistle.

Don’t be fooled, this song-based Ufomammut is not any sort of light version of the band. They’re not phoning it in, they’re displaying a different approach to their brand of heavy, one that they’ve spent years mastering. The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

“8” is available here (Europe) & here (USA)

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Harvestman - "Music For Megaliths"

By: Jack Taylor

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 19/05/2017

Label: Neurot Recordings

an ethereal bagpipe drone, oscillating around your speakers, waves of guitar effects wash over you and the whole choir of eldritch noise comes creeping back into view, then departing again, This is” Music For Megaliths”, the latest record by Harvestman, and as expected, it’s everything you’d want from a Harvestman record and definitely worth a listen for anyone into drone, ambient or progressive music.

“Music For Megaliths” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. The Forest Is Our Temple
02. Oak Drone
03. Ring Of Sentinels
04. Cromlech
05. Levitation
06. Sundown
07. White Horse

The Review:

It starts with an ethereal bagpipe drone, oscillating around your speakers, a kind of psychedelic clarion call melody. Waves of guitar effects wash over you, then the song picks up momentum with a familiar heartbeat chug, chug, chug. It just keeps on building and building. A premonitory guitar melody plucked on an acoustic, then sliding, bending. You wonder where it’s going to go, but the song reveals that the destination isn’t important, as it slides off into a dull hum, before expiring. And then coming back to life, briefly, the whole choir of eldritch noise creeping back into view, then departing again. This is” The Forest is Our Temple”, the opening track on the latest record by Harvestman, ‘Music For Megaliths’, and as expected, it’s everything you’d want from a Harvestman record.

Harvestman is essentially a Steve Von Till solo project, but differs from the albums that carry his name in that there are next to no vocals on Harvestman, only an assorted array of instruments. It’s obvious that Von Till loves just noodling around in a studio and seeing what he can come up with by stacking tracks and playing with effects, venturing into the musical hinterland, and Harvestman is the focused, recorded outcome of this time.

If you’ve heard this side project before then it’ll offer no surprises, but it’s another excellent edition to the Neurosis legend’s back catalogue. Aside from the excellent opener, there are six other tracks on this album. “Oak Drone” is more of the same as the first, “Ring of Sentinels” features a nice little drum loop and soothing bass line, “Cromlech” has barely any structure and is simply just a dazzling droney joy feast, while closer “White Horse” is probably the only song that could come close to appearing on one of Von Till’s folk albums – haunting acoustic melody accompanied by foreboding vocals and the usual ambiguous, enchanting lyrics.

Another solid Harvestman release – the short length arguably lets it down, as ‘Lashing the Rye’ was twice as long and more varied, but definitely worth a listen for anyone into drone, ambient or progressive music.

“Music For Megaliths” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

LIVE REVIEW: "Celebrating 30 Years" Neurosis @ Koko - London, 7th November 2016

By: Richard Lennon

 

I’m a bit obsessed with Neurosis. I was given the “Souls at Zero/Enemy of the Sun” bundled digipack on release about 20 years ago (by my Gran, of all people) and have been  a fan ever since. In all that time I’ve never managed to catch them live, so when they announced two shows at Koko to celebrate 30 years as a band - supported by instrumental US drone-mongers Earth on the Monday night and British anarcho-punks Subhumans and Discharge on the Tuesday - I snapped up tickets immediately and have spent the last few months salivating in excitement.

Having initially bought tickets for the Tuesday show I was pretty disappointed when work got in the way and I had to switch to going on the Monday night – I’ve been a Discharge fan for yonks but had never really listened to Earth past a cursory spin of “The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull” which left me a bit unsure what all the fuss was about. Turns out I was wrong.


After a few pints over the road, we arrived a couple of minutes before Earth came on and just had time for a run to the merch stand and the bar before Dylan Carlson and co wandered onto the stage of Koko. Their set was hypnotic ally brilliant, as Carlson - backed by Adrienne Davies on drums and a baritone guitarist whose name I’m not sure of – ground out a succession of long, mesmerising instrumental pieces full of ultra-slow, head-nodding grooves and bluesy guitar riffs that were big, slow and heavy enough to have been written by dinosaurs. Music I’d found difficult to pay attention to on record was suddenly all-encompassing and completely gripping. I’m sure a proper fan could give you a much more thorough review, but I’ll just say that I was grinning from ear to ear by the end of the set and leave it at that.

And so, having been thoroughly re-educated about Earth, it was time for one of the most influential acts in modern heavy music to unleash the apocalypse on Camden. What followed wasn’t quite what I was expecting. In an interview with Overblown in the run-up to these shows, Steve Von Till mentioned that Neurosis “[wanted] to celebrate our 30th anniversary by going back in the catalogue, trying to find some songs that would work, and trying to acknowledge each phase of our band” and that comment had me excited about the possibility of them raiding “Souls at Zero”, “Enemy of the Sun”, “Through Silver in Blood” and “Times of Grace”, in turn bringing out a crowd-pleasing set of classics. In the end the set list leans much more heavily on recent albums than I was hoping. “Lost”, from “Enemy of the Sun”, gets a huge cheer from the crowd about halfway through and they close with the incomparable “Locust Star”, which is one of my all-time favourite songs by any artist, but the rest of the ten-song set is drawn from their last four albums, including three of the five tracks on new release “Fires Within Fires.” 

But if that sounds like a complaint, it isn’t. Neurosis are majestic. They don’t chat. The visuals are long gone. What we get is visceral, intense, totally alive heavy music, and the fact that I don’t know the new stuff that well doesn’t get in the way at all. There aren’t many bands who can take music that didn’t really set the world on fire for you on record and make it feel like a vital listening experience live, but Neurosis does precisely that. They pound out almost two hours of non-stop riffage, load it with waves of electronica from Noah Landis's sample/keyboard/theremin station on the side of the stage and offer more dynamics and subtlety in ten songs than many modern metal acts manage in an entire career. 30 years of making music hasn't slowed the juggernaut of sludge that is Neurosis down one iota and on this form you wouldn't bet against seeing the 40th anniversary shows come around. Maybe they'll finally cave in and play the greatest hits set in 2026.

Setlist:

1). Stones from the Sky
2). Given to the Rising
3). Bending Light
4). Lost
5). Broken Ground
6). Casting of the Ages
7). Fire is the End Lesson
8). Distill (Watching The Swarm)
9). At the Well
10). Locust Star

 

 

ALBUM REVIEW: Neurosis - "Fires Within Fires"

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 23/09/2016
Label: Neurot Recordings

“Fires Within Fires” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Bending Light

2). A Shadow Memory

3). Fire is the End Lesson

4). Broken Ground

5). Reach

The Review:

Neurosis are celebrating being a band for 30 years and what better way to celebrate than a new album? It's no secret that I fucking love this band. 'Through Silver In Blood' and 'Times of Grace' opened my mind to the possibilities of musical and sonic exploration and many of my epiphanies have been soundtracked by their extensive back catalog.

Ok, let's get one thing straight; Neurosis will never make another of the aforementioned albums, so stop comparing every album to them! Neurosis are a band that are constantly evolving, each album is a point on a serpentine time line, 'Fires Within Fires' is the band's 11th studio album (12th if you count the album they recorded Jarboe) and they waste no time in dishing out the meaty slabs on opening track 'Bending Light', a few moments of calm permeate the atypically monstrous Scott Kelly penned riffs.

Kelly's voice, one of the most distinctive and powerful in all of music, carries the track, direct and with a clear mission; complete destruction of biblical proportions. "Peeling skin away, reveals the heart" scream Kelly and Co vocalist/guitarist Steve Von Till, themes of the elements, the mind, the soul and the body are always explored on a Neurosis record and the point is hammered home here. Softly, the noise and beautiful clean guitars of 'A Shadow Memory', definitely a Von Till song idea, will furrow inside your brain and cleanse your spirit, then the heaviness hits and Von Till gives us his impeccable gruff, melodic bellow while the songs central harmony, understated in it's simplicity, washes over you in waves of brilliance. The contributions of Noah Landis on keys/synths/samples is no less important than on 'Honour Found In Decay' but lies a little deeper in the mix, allowing for the guitars (a few new pedals being used maybe?) to come to the forefront. Landis' weapons of choice become more prominent on 'Fire Is The End Lesson', shimmering and floating around the guitars like a swarm of gravity defying bees and when the heavy riff kicks in around the 3.30 mark it's impossible not to be reminded of all those epically crushing moments throughout their career.

 'Broken Ground' begins with some more top notch sample work from Landis before the clean riffing, with the kind of string bend we've come to know and love from Neurosis, sets the moody tone, backed by Jason Roeder's no nonsense approach to rhythm. Lyrics of burning wood, stones and seeking the sun embraces the music in Steve Von Till's ever improving singing voice...then we get the heaviness again and it's Neurosis in their soul smashing purest form. At the tail end the album is 'Reach', if you were to look at a line graph of all past Neurosis albums to define songs; this would fall where “Souls At Zero” and “The Eye of Every Storm” meet. Chorus laden guitars and the 'tape rewinding' sounds dance around the rhythm laid down by Roeder and bassist Dave Edwardson. "They'll never see all that we see. Trust in blood. Live in waters..." sing Kelly and Von Till sorrowfully during the quieter parts. The song breaks off into minimalist, ambient territory for a while...and then the heavy part. The first time I heard it, I got goosebumps. Each subsequent listen yielded the same result. What better way to end the album than with all guns blazing and Scott Kelly roaring away.

Neurosis seem to redefine themselves each decade; in the 80's they were pissed off, aggressive but had your best interests at heart. In the 90's, they progressed to become a thought provoking, godlike beast, creating 4 albums which influenced hundreds of bands and which still stand out in today's musical landscape. In the 00's, they were more reflective and organic, using clean singing and ambient parts. As this decade has yet to close, it's difficult to define what Neurosis are...but herein lies their beauty; you define who and what they are to you. After 30 years, these guys know what needs to go into a Neurosis record and will continue to do so until the music is finished with them.

“Fire Within Fires” is available here

Band info: official || facebook

Choice Cuts: Neurosis - "Through Silver in Blood" (1996)

By: Chris Bull

Years Active: 1985 - Present

Records to Date:  11

Genre: Post Metal | Experimental |

Progressive | Sludge | Ambient |

Hardcore | Crust

Labels: Neurot Recordings |

Relapse Records

The Band:

Scott Kelly | guitar, vocals, percussion

Steve Von Till | guitar, vocals, percussion

Noah Landis | keyboards, synthesizer, sampling

Dave Edwardson | bass guitar, backing vocals

Jason Roeder | drums, percussion

Pete Inc. | visuals

Additional musicians

John Goff | bagpipes

Martha Burns | cello

Kris Force | violin

The Review:

It has been 20 years since the release of the monumental 'Through Silver in Blood' and its power and influence is as strong today as it ever was.

From the opening mechanical noise of the title track (Noah Landis' first appearance on a Neurosis record) it's evident that something special is happening. Managing to make a 12 minute song simultaneously feel like a flash and a lifetime, this is the sound of a cohesive unit firing on all cylinders. Tracks like the raging 'Eye', the decadent 'Aeon' and the incredible 'Locust Star' strike a chord with the audience with their sheer force and ethereal overtones and are still met with rapturous cheers and applause when they're played.

The epic 'Purify' and 'Strength Of Fate' serve as lengthy legs of the journey while brief interludes of 'Rehumanize' and 'Become The Ocean' serve as pit stops that enhance your awareness along the way. It closes with the often overlooked and underrated 'Enclosure in Flame' and leaves your spirit obliterated...but refreshed, regenerated and ready to begin again, awakened.

While many bands up to and throughout 1996 had travelled well worn paths to reach the top of the mountain, Neurosis had been carving stone, digging earth and building, slowly and meticulously for 10 years, through this, everyone realised Neurosis had made their own mountain and were now at the top. While many feel that this and 1999's 'Times Of Grace' remain their best work, they seem to have missed the point, 'Through Silver In Blood' is a one of a kind album, trying to repeat it would be a foolish and unrewarding move. There will never be another Neurosis, they've continued to push the envelope, adding more earth to their already towering mountain, they sit, godlike, watching the world spin.

Album Details:

“Through Silver in Blood” is the fifth album from Neurosis. The album was released on April 2, 1996, and was their first record to be released under Relapse Records.  The album was recorded at Brilliant and Coast, SF and produced by Neurosis and Billy Anderson. Mixed at Different Fur, SF and mastered by George at Fantasy, Berkley. Following it’s original release there has been 22 versions released in total, with pressings by Iron City Records, (1996) Music For Nations (1997), Rocris Disc (1998), Ritual Records (2002), Relapse Records (2006), Neurot Recordings (2009), Relapse Records (2011) and more recently (2016) the first repress on vinyl for 10 Years to celebrate Relapse Records 20^th Anniversary

During an interview with “Chronicles of Chaos” in 1996, bassist Dave Edwardson was asked “What is the most important thing that you want a Neurosis fan to get out of this record? To which his response was

DE: “For people to be inspired by it. Maybe with the emotions we reveal people can relate to it and get through that shit. To have a part of it speak to their deeper self or soul. That is what we'd like to see come out of it.”

“Through Silver in Blood” track listing:

1). Through Silver in Blood

2). Rehumanize

3). Eye

4). Purify

5). Locust Star

6). Strength of Fates

7). Become the Ocean

8). Aeon

9). Enclosure in Flame

Band info: facebook

The Body & Full of Hell - "One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 25/03/2016

Label: Neurot Recordings

“One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” is a nightmarish journey to the outer limits of sound; a cold, dark creation of cathartic noise almost entirely devoid of standard structure.  Covering so much ground over the course of a single album could easily make for a messy, disjointed experience. Somehow The Body and Full of Hell manage to pull these disparate styles and approaches together to make a coherent and consistently unsettling record.  “One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” is every bit as terrifying as you would expect from these two trailblazing acts.

“One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” CD//DD track listing:

1. One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache
2. Fleshworks
3. The Butcher
4. Gehorwilt
5. World of Hope and No Pain
6. Himmel und Hölle
7. Bottled Urn
8. The Little death
9. Cain
10. Abel

The Review:

It says a lot about an album when the most conventional track is a torturous doom reworking of Leonard Cohen’s “The Butcher”. The Body and Full of Hell both have formidable reputations as bands as innovative as they are uncompromising, qualities that are amplified on this full length collaboration. “One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” is a nightmarish journey to the outer limits of sound; a cold, dark creation of cathartic noise almost entirely devoid of standard structure.

“The Little Death” is the closest the record comes to fulfilling any narrow preconceptions of what this meeting of minds may sound like. The opening half is based around pummelling blastbeats, with intermittent squalls of guitar and electronics fighting for dominance over the dual howls of Dylan Walker and Chip King. This degenerates into a treacly, sludgy second half, making this the perfect warped combination of grind and doom one might have expected.

The rest of the album sees both bands channelling their more challenging urges to create bold new forms. The title track opens with a huge, lurching drumbeat that soon becomes the backdrop for menacing, clanging chords. The effect is like a middle ground between the slow motion terror of Khanate and the galactic dustbowl atmospherics of Barn Owl. The brief burst “World of Hope and No Pain” gives way to the claustrophobic cloud of “Himmer und Holle”. Over 6 minutes the bands build up layers of crackling static and shards of prickly noise, harrowing vocals pushed to the background like captives screaming for help from the eye of a tornado. “Bottled Urn” serves up 4 minutes of sharp stuck-groove noise rock, relentlessly hammering like a malfunctioning piston before finally breaking under the pressure.

Covering so much ground over the course of a single album could easily make for a messy, disjointed experience. Somehow The Body and Full of Hell manage to pull these disparate styles and approaches together to make a coherent and consistently unsettling record. It’s by no means an easy listen but “One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” is a gripping ride and every bit as terrifying as you would expect from these two trailblazing acts.

“One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache” is available here

Band info: facebook (thebody) || facebook (fullofhell)