OTHUUM - The Astral Horror
Self Released
If H. P. Lovecraft only knew that his literary work would go on to inspire thousands of metal musicians. Yeah well just for the record I am a Lovecraft fan and have a bunch of anthologies on a book shelf. Although I must admit I'm not a fanatic. I have my favorites from him that's why when I learned about this band and their influence I had to look up the origin of their name because it didn't ring a bell. So according to some written Lovecraft Mythos material I have Othuum is one of the Great Old Ones but a lesser god. It's a twisting rope-like monstrosity covered in tentacles with a singular alien face in the middle of squirming, ropy mass.
Of course that would not correctly describe this German doom act well. On this their debut full length OTHUUM trudge along the traditional path of epic doom. Their eyes might be staring up towards the astral but their music is firmly derived from the Leif Edling school of doom. I'm not saying they're copying CANDLEMASS. But some of the cuts on here carry the influence which is about as obvious as the tentacles on Cthulhu's face. I'll also drag PARADISE LOST's name out of the vault because of the band's singer uses clean tone vocals as well as deathly growls to get the point across.
The Astral Horror is a six song affair. Actually it's five rather long songs with a short opening intro. Blast it a few times and it will take on a mesmerizing effect on your consciousness. "Curse of Darkness" is a hypnotic ten minute journey to the astral plane. The real heaviness, as in solid head banging riffs, kicks in on "The Anti-Cosmic God". Melodic guitar solos weave throughout like falling stars in the night sky. Although my favorite track on here is "Infernal Tentacle Wars" since it has that foreboding CANDLEMASS aesthetic running within. A good intro for an old one to enter the foray. All in all OTHUUM's The Astral Horror is a good debut that you're average doom head should be blasting at high volume.
https://othuum.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/othuumband/
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