This British band plays a very interesting blend of death metal, It is dark and murky which works the best for me. There are some technical aspects though they never forsake the dripping ooze of sound they pour out with the kind of nameless gibbering form as a creature in a Lovecraft story. A great deal of bands now throw around the term psychedelic. Just because you smoke weed at band practice does not mean you are psychedelic. These guys earn such a title as the music hand contorts in a surreal manner that might sound pleasing when drugs are in your system. There is also a hammering oppression that is important in death metal.
"Splayed Mudscape" finds things beginning to sink in the bog of their own making, as the double bass rolls over and other angular mess of riffs. They do find more groove as the song progresses. There is a higher raspy snarl that enters the fray, as the vocals up to this point have been a sick low gurgle. The vocals shift to create more of a mood which is more than most death metal bands these days do. I like how they build the momentum on the fourth song. Things are still pretty angular, and the double bass is relentless, but arranged in a way where things have space to flow. At times this reminds me of Meshuggah, though they are not pounded with the same groove-minded pulse.
This more dynamic manner of the atmosphere is taken further on "the Hissing Moor". It however veers off in a more chaotic direction. .The straightforward instrumental that closes the album is a little bit of a surprise as I was expecting something weird. I will give this grim Gorey acid trip of an album an 8.5, it is a great deal of fun even if it is a murky din of metal chaos, I think that is what they were going for so not your average death metal band in that regard.
pst107
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