Bleed This Earth : 'the Shapes That Stood in Silence"

 This doom band from New Zealand opens their new album with a display of riffing that manages to work groove into their dirge. The vocals are cleanly sung, as the song breaks down into the low rumble of bass, this opens up things in a spacious fashion due to the minimalist dynamic. it creates but builds in with a slow but solid burn. Growled vocals, snarl into action with a very articulated phrasing. The depressing narrative is just as important as getting loud, which I appreciate as storytelling can fall by the wayside. At almost 13 minutes, it is bordering on being indulgent, but the vocals help pass the time in a very effective manner. At times it brings My Dying Bride to mind. 

The lyrics are about a girl whose parents die, and they try to visit her from the afterlife, but their ghostly forms scare her. The reference to wandering the earth drives the point home. The drummer keeps the band from falling into the traps of many bands in the genres, nothing is plodding or droning about this as the song keeps moving, while still being true to the funeral march that defines this sub-genre of doom. Nothing is left to linger.  The second song finds the low growl which is not the more vibratory pulse of guttural most of these bands employ. Midway into the song things drop out into a more fragile melodic tone. The sung vocals return and pop up more unexpectedly rather than taking the easy way out with the good cop/ bad cap call and response. 

"As My Terror Turns to Sleep" still benefits from great drumming, but the overall feel of the song falls in line with what is typically done when it comes to this genre. Melodic but it is also the first song that leans in the direction of a more deliberate droning into sorrow. "And Moments Flicker By" opens with a reluctant strum of the guitar.  Sung vocals join in and offer a lingering folk sound thanks to the plaintive tones of his voice. The guitars cry out from a languid depression, as the build proves to be very purposeful;. The singing emotes in a very honest fashion. This is the drummer doing the singing, so this must be his band. He is great you can hear jazz influence in his playing as the song progresses / The growls roar out into the void halfway into the song. I will give this album a 9.5, it accomplished what it set out to do gracefully. One of the best doom albums I have heard in some time. 

pst419