Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean : 'Obsession Destruction"

 It's been a minute since I have listened to this Boston band. Their 2020 album "The Vestige" was the last time I listened to them, I do not remember the vocals having this scathing of a scream, and felt they were more on the doom side of sludge. While there is a plodding element, it flows at times more like a indie rock or shoegaze in the manner it shimmers toward the bleak abyss of sound they draw from. "Hole in My Head" ambles on with almost a stomping groove. The vocals serve more purpose on this song, rather than just a tortured human element to the sound that is obligatory. The guitars are a dense crunch, they are more dialed in a organic with each passing album. 

The lock into a more traditional metal riff with "The Gates Have Closed and they Will Never Open" . This does not stop them from going off onto an exploration of atmosphere, which creates a nice dynamic shift. These guys under stand the value of being heavy, but they also understand the dynamics of writing songs and the contrasts required to execute this. "the Chalice' goes in a more black metal direction, though with the weighted attitude of sludge shoveling the distortion out. The vocal approach was already half way there , they really just need to the guitar to dig in , in order to get hateful enough to veer into that shade of evil. The twelve minutes of "Ten Thousand Years of Unending Failure" could have benefited from the first two minute of the song to have been cut back. I am fine with building tension , but they bathe in excess. When the song kicks in their is enough groove to almost balance the budget. 

There is an odd angular touch to "Every Day a Weeping Curse".  It causes the song to sway against the unbridled screaming that is the abrasive coat of throat noise, to a similar effect of what the Body does, but less unnerving. The last song is another mammoth 12-minute sprawl, but they waste little time getting to the face-ripping riffs part of the equation that is their strength. It lumbers with a uniform chug that they milk for as long as it bleeds. After minutes they ride the tension with the drums pounding out a more droning pattern. They go from this into a third movement which is another chug they ride out with more metallic intent. I will give this album a 9 . It is very solid and finds the band taking chances outside their mission statement of just being heavy as all hell which they also achieve.