“Diving headlong into the promo sump, I decided to take a gamble on the debut album from Portland, Oregon’s raucous Viral Tyrant and their debut LP, Vultures Like You. Formed in 2018 the fiery four-piece have a lone demo and single behind their name, before arriving at this first foray into full-length territory. Being that sludge is a notoriously grimy, seedy back-alley style, let us dispense with the pleasantries and determine whether Vultures Like You is any good.” Sludge is a disease.
“If you didn’t know there was some link between Crippled Black Phoenix and Johnny the Boy, you would be hard-pressed to divine it by listening to You alone.” Johnny B. the Good Boy.
“Here I sit, in my dimly lit alcove, wearing my cherished war elephant Transcending Obscurity tee, penning another review for a Transcending Obscurity release. This one is for Finnish sludge doom band Lurk, and their upcoming mass of grime Aegis. I was rather smitten with 2016’s (2018’s if you track signed release dates) Fringe and its murky, swinging brand of sludge metal. It was oppressive while also being quite beautiful, adeptly wielding a chilling atmosphere that cut to the bone as often as it crushed bone to dust. Just how likely is it, then, that Lurk could return seven years later with another record of similar sound and equal or better quality?” Lurking in the murk.
“After smashing out three albums and gathering loads of momentum over a five-year period, Mantar have remained quiet on the recording front, aside from a collection of cover songs. Pleasingly, Mantar return with their anticipated fourth offering, boasting a cool album title and minimalistic cover art. Can Erinc (drums) and Hanno (guitars, vocals) muster the creative energy and belly fire to deliver a knockout punch?” Moretar!
“After recent (and in one case accidental) forays into genres somewhat removed from my traditional hunting grounds – funeral fucking drone and death metal – I am pleased this week to be back in more familiar waters with some sludgy doom. Vermont two-piece, Body Void return with their third full-length, Bury Me Beneath this Rotting Earth.” Cull and void.
“Lured in initially by that artwork – unmistakably Mariusz Lewandowski but with a teensy variation on his typical hooded figure and preferred color palette – the advance track (“Mere Humans”) for Jupiterian’s Protosapien sounded huge; as in, geologically significant. This Brazilian four-piece was previously unknown to me, so off I scurried to the AMG archive dungeons to ensure that it could be mine to review! I was to be disappointed, as I discovered that a certain Muppet had in fact reviewed the last slab of atmospheric doom sludge dished up by Jupiterian. Then, when the news broke that Muppet was going to be pursuing interests outside The Hall, I realized that the follow up to 2017’s Terraforming was up for grabs after all.” Grab for the stars.
