TETRAMORPHE IMPURE : "the Sunset of Being"

 Damien from Mortuary Drape is helming this project. If you don't know who Mortuary Drape are, then we have bigger problems than allowing you to delve into funeral doom. Do you know what funeral doom is? Think My Dying Bride, who, if you are still coming blank, this is the wrong blog for you. This opening track feels more like death doom thanks to the relentless hammering of double bass, though the guitar does allow things to breathe and create a sense of atmosphere. The vocals have a commanding growl, rather than being the kind of despair-filled gurgle that normally comes from funeral doom. Record labels are the last ones to know how to market a band and call their bands all sorts of things they think are buzz words. These guys are pretty heavy regardless of the genre and give a shit about the songs which is even better.

There is more melody to the guitar line that opens the second song. The drummer is pretty amped up to get things going in a more death metal direction, and that is where his playing sends the song. The more languid chords that would set the sorrowful doom mood are in play but not allowed to simmer for too long. What they are doing here works, but after the first song, there are fewer surprises here. "The Spirit of Gravity" is a more foreboding stomp. To the band's credit, they are not content with just pummelling you. There are some sparse sung vocals buried in things. 

The last song finds the band charging right in with death metal's hyper aggression, though once they settle into the verse, a more melancholic guitar tone comes in. The overall feel is death doom, as the double bass starts getting kicked up again midway into this song, which sprawls out at 1 minute. Though six minutes into the song, they seem to have touched on all the major themes you might expect. They end up going into a clean guitar melody that sounds like something Metallica might have played around with as an intro. I like what they are doing here, the transition into the swell of dynamics is pretty flowing, though, could they have reined this song into something more concise that was eight minutes max, yes. But over all this album is a success and they take the death doom genre away from its normal Peaceville roots into something more aggressive. I will give this album a 9, as it's a fun listen.  

 

 pst154