This band from North Carolina brings a big lumbering version of stoner fried doom to the table. The sung vocals are not what I was expecting, but I appreciate the fact that they are not effects-laden displays of Ozzy worship. We do a fair amount of Ozzy worship around here. I love some Ozzy, but I own all the Black Sabbath and solo albums, so there is no need for imitators. The guitars on this album are massive, with the vocals sitting back against their wall of fuzz. The vocals are not the hookies as they are riding along the guitar riffs. I think, as with a great many metal albums that push heavy to the forefront after the initial hit rings in your eardrums, you are stunned until the second song, and do not stop to ask if they can write a song.
The vocals do have more purpose on the second song, but feel a little pitchy in places. The guitars do sync up with the vocals to make things work. They sound like early Pallbearer on "Pot of Gold' There seems to be a more attuned focus to a depressive feel here. 'Parasites' is more invested in a heavier pound, though keeping the doom mood going. "Dwelling" works better, I think the effects on the vocals work better. You can hear this when they are stripped down post-production for a song like "Perfect Organism.", though the vocal melody here is a little hookier.
"Bones' might not be the album's catchiest song, but it does lean more into their doom identity. The same could be said of the winding last song. Is some of this delivered like a Temu Pallbearer, sure, but there is also a great sense of who they are bubbling up amidst it. I will give this album an 8,5 and see how it grows on me, but if you miss when Pallbearer was a metal band, this album is for you.
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