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SHALLOW GRAVE - Threshold Between Worlds
Sludgelord Records
Here's the type of release you play after a day/night of bullshit hard work, you've got beer or maybe something stronger and this band's four tracks carry you the fuck away. Well that was the first time I checked it out and I actually had a hangover the following day.
Here's the sophomore full-length from a New Zealand atmospheric sludge/post metal act who by the way have a former member of ULCERATE in their line-up. That later part did peek my interest since guitarist Michael Rothwell plays on the only ULCERATE release I could handle.
With that said this is a far cry from Tech Death. What we have here is plenty of dissonant guitars, feedback, ambient noise and of course wretched vocals. This all reminds me a bit like the noise rock of late 80's/early 90's New York City. Or more commonly known as heroin music.
This is four cuts by the way, three long and one short. The opener, "The Horrendous Abyss", actually displays some character while the other three are basically chaotic. This is the result of having a practice space two doors down from a PORTAL copy cat act with a one man opioid addict into SUNN-O)) in-between. Sure it's cool but I'd probably like it a lot more if I was on a three day vodka bender.
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/threshold-between-worlds
https://www.facebook.com/ShallowGraveDoom
BAST - Nanoangstrom
Black Bow Records
BAST are the lid of a pressure cooker which seems ready to blow any second. Musically this English trio weaves together some varied sounds into a cauldron and it works. Think the crushing sounds of CONAN, add in some post-metal HELMET, some prog plus blackened moments to add atmosphere along with harsh vocals. Yeah aside from the intro, the five cuts on here bring forth a lot to consider.
I was outside on the back deck having my morning smoke and cup of coffee the other day. It was a brisk Fall day with a chill in the air worthy of wearing a sweatshirt. I felt great then when I came back inside and played this release. I got the same feeling. This is BAST 's second full length, first time for me hearing em. Their debut, Spectres, came out four years ago. I'm not so surprised it took a while between albums since the cuts on here are long and carry diverseness in design and depth.
The tagline on BAST is blackened doom but to me, after playing this multiple times, it seems such a limited term to describe them as. The title cut for myself is where everything this band does comes together in an explosive way and yet it's still a cacophony of styles bubbling away. Other cuts lay out a vast wasteland of despair to trudge through. It's all very cool and breaks all molds or trends being put forth by lesser acts who just take the simple route. I'd call this excellence.
http://www.blackbowrecords.com/
https://bastmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Bastmusic
