ninehertz

The name conjures imaginations of what the music may hold, all of which comes to pass – grand, devilish and ritualistic, this German band creating a force of traditional doom set within the outer terrains of more extreme metal. It makes for a rich narrative.

It begins with intent – a strange, full blooded, fast paced start with a whirlwind of noises masking the sound, almost psychedelic in its effect but also only a few steps off an extreme metal cacophony. It is held back from that precipice by the clean(ish) vocals, although those don’t last two minutes whereupon it reduces pace dramatically, into funeral doom worlds. The vocals here are with a Jus Oborn (Electric Wizard) or Nick Ruskell (Witchsorrow) slant in a doom summoning, the latter of those bands, with their wholehearted commitment to traditional doom, serving as an accurate pointer for where the track resides for its bulk.

The markers have been set, and across these behemothic songs (four over 9 minutes plus one bridge track in the middle) you can consistently sense the heady, gothic edged atmosphere rising, calling on Esoteric comparisons at times too. It drops off a little towards its end, leaning a little too much on its influences and trad/occult doom standard approaches, but it retains a grime throughout that is impressive simply to endure.

This is doom of the old school and at its best, when allied to the blackened smoggy atmosphere, and when they throw in the occasional psychedelic or even stoner rock swirling pattern, it is an enjoyable, densely affecting experience.