The Bastards Diesel "A Liminal Release" EP Review

 

  Let this serve as an introduction/commendation of the very interesting solo project The Bastards Diesel,stepped in the nuances of Experimental Sludge/Noise/Doom with a penchant for creating an audio/visual assualt on the senses with the absolutely fantastic debut release A Liminal Release.

  The bass heavy intro on opening track Thoughts Lost In The Ether sets a very bleak and dirge like tone added by the lo-fi miserably scrawled vocals, you can literally feel the nastiness and filthiness with every moving second,the repitive riff running throughout just pounds home the atmosphere, the lo-fi crushing heaviness of That Cold Feeling has subtle hints of Funeral Doom while still maintaining that bleak and nasty atmosphere,there's also the added elements of some fantastic guitar leads permeating in the background and epic drum fills executed with razor sharp precision.

  This is a great start of what's to come from The Bastards Diesel,the atmosphere created throughout paints a picture of Bleak,Nasty and Epic Soundscapes desigend to assualt the senses and leave you coming back for more,in all A Liminal Release is the perfect introduction for what we can expect from The Bastards Diesel in the future.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/33T2sQtRgTfd3T6raeTB9r?si=_LuxQNbhT1-beg8Aste9KQ

BANDCAMP: https://thebastardsdiesel.bandcamp.com/album/a-liminal-release

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thebastardsdiesel

Superstatic "Glimmering Veil" Album Review

   Wanted to give this ridiculously overlooked album some much needed exposure and adoration, Superstatic is the side project of Rustam of the Russian Folk/Black/Doom outfit Rakoth, this is a completely different sort of entity to what Rakoth are all about with a sound stepped in the throes and misery of  90's inspired Death/Doom and subtle hints and odes to Funeral Doom luminaries such as Evoken,Esoteric and Skepticism,this is explored with magnificient abundance on the brilliant Glimmering Veil.

   Instantly there's a noticable theme with the opening track I Have No Mouth, and I Must Speak the unfathomable horrors that are about to unfold,you get the feeling with the musical structure that less is more with crushingly heavy riffs while making evrything about the atmosphere of the music,even a drum fill or simple riff adds an extremely dramatic yet bleak aura throughout this opus, Mutabor offers some really 90's inspired Death/Doom passages,this is possibly the only track on the album that has a plethora of Riffs but the focus on atmosphere is still prevelant even the presence of those whispering vocals create a foreboding darkness yet at the same time give an essence of something beautiful that lays beneath all the horrors, the darkness gets alot more noticable on House Dagoth the minimalistic tendencies within the album get used to devastating effect throuhgout this track combined with the intermittent chants in the background create an extremely haunting atmosphere.

   The Atmosphere is pushed to another level with the brilliant Edge those female chants at the start give a whole different element to proceedings and creates an extremely Ethereal yet dark ambience,again with get those whispering style vocals which have became that little bit nastier,not mentioned is the fantastic epic structure which is beautifully melancholic and adds alot of depth to the music, I Am The Doorway has a very strange type of electronic/keyboard parts that give off a really eerie atmosphere before going full on into some My Dying Bride type homage were things get that extra bit darker and heavier, The Rose Garden opens up with a beautifully arranged piano piece with a brief ochestral voice then suddenly that foreboding darkness and heaviness returns to hauntingly creep and crawl like a despicable entity lurking in the shadows ready to strike at any given moment, we go into the truly epic closing track Remember Citadel there's some sort of intermittent tranmissions that sounds like a computer programme or AI intertwined with slow building riffs and extremely taut drum sections and electronic parts, the brief heavy guitar parts and nasty growls push the whole horror inspired elements into an inevitable moment where the horrors have finally come to envelop you within a web of unescapable despair and tragedy finally consuming every fibre of your being.

   Superstatic have created a Death/Doom Opus of epic proportions, this is a really well executed and concisely created masterpiece with elements of Funeral Doom mixed with some 90's inspired Death/Doom throw in extremely dramatic and horror driven madness combined with an atmosphere that's beautiful,tragic and melancholic also created with a less is more ethos ,you're not likely to hear something as innovative and taut as Glimmering Veil in the near future.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2siaOaTNJjRHnjvcaHf6vY?si=7PyISFQ1Rx6JJPB_6tK_ig

BANDCAMP: https://superstatic.bandcamp.com/

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRp1_53KatnnLqpY57nyu_g

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SuperstaticEquilibrium

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/superstatic.equilibrium/

Frowning "Extinct" Review

 Hailing from Saxony, Germany Frowning is a one man project delivering dark, melancholic Funeral Doom, formed in 2011 the band has released a few singles,one split and two full length albums including this one simply entitled Extinct.

 Creating an atmosphere so much colder & darker from his previous album Funeral Impressions sole member Val takes influence from such Funeral Doom legends like Evoken & Pantheist, without doubt this album creates an epicly constructed masterpiece,giving the listener a monumentally phenomenal album to get lost in, Extinct delivers five tracks of mournful gut wrenching vocals, epic sounscapes with Drone like effect and an eerie and desolate atmosphere, the added guest vocal apperaces of Stanislav of  Suffer Yourself on opening track Nocturnal Void & Hejkal of Ad Cinerem on Encumbered By Vermin adds a different layer of atmosphere to the tracks on offer, as a whole this album is more mature then the previous album  Funeral Impression offering a much darker atmosphere and an added heaviness that will have fans mesmerized.

Frowning have raised the bar significantly since their last release and will no doubt have many more people paying attention to the band, this is an album well worth it's weight in gold and offers many qualities that fans of Funeral Doom will be drooling about for years to come,also what awaits us in the future will surely create a bigger fan base for this band.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR "NOCTURNAL VOID" IN THE LINK BELOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMcMkCWNmGo

CHECK OUT THE BANDS FACEBOOK PAGE IN THE LINK BELOW
https://www.facebook.com/frowning.band/

ALBUM AVAILABLE TO STREAM,DOWNLOAD & PURCHASE IN THE LINK BELOW
https://frowning.bandcamp.com/album/extinct

Vanha "Within The Mist Of Sorrow" Review

 Swedish Two Piece Vanha perform a heartfelt,atmospheric & melancholic brand of Death/Doom Metal, they came into existence in 2016, this is their debut album entitled Within The Mist of Sorrow.

For a band only starting out this album shows a maturity & musicianship well beyond their years,it's like they've been honing their craft for numerous years,the sound and feeling is stepped in an atmosphere,darkness & melancholy reminescent of mid 90's Death/Doom in the vein of My Dying Bride &  Katatonia every track on offer is monumentally epic with abundance of heartfelt lyrics creating an album worthy of your attention, standout tracks for me are Old Hearts Fail, Into The Cold Light & Dark Heart, the remaining four tracks have plenty of quality to grab your attention.

Vanha may well be in their infancy as a band but this is a rare feat when a debut album is demonstrating a maturity & craft so fantastically,the emotion & passion portrayed on this release is absolutely breathtaking,they may well be destined to be a band with a huge level of success and deservedly so especially what they offer with this release.
VANHA WILL DOOM YOU TO DEATH!!!!!!




CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR "INTO THE COLD LIGHT" AT THE LINK BELOW
https://youtu.be/8UgIrjM6HvA

CHECK OUT THE BANDS FACEBOOK PAGE AT THE LINK BELOW
https://www.facebook.com/officialvanha/?fref=ts

ALBUM AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING, PURCHASING & DOWNLOADING AT THE LINK BELOW
https://vanhablacklion.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-mist-of-sorrow