ninehertz

To find the greatest and weightiest of the Californian extreme underground, look no further than Transylvanian Recordings, a bastion of doom, death and black metal for many a year now. Everything they release is worth a listen and when they do unearth their local doom I’m almost always an instant fan. As it is with Ominess.

They hold a gothic tinge in their approach, but always with a real and unexpected heft in the guitars, creating a potent concoction. The vocals soar above the gloom of the music and the rumbling of the riffs. At several points I’m reminded of a band from the UK doom underground – MWWB (formerly known as Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, as if we could forget) – in the subtle charm found in the pairing of the ethereal with dank, heavy riffs.

It gets better as it goes, the early morning ease to Encuerame is shattered by the most primal of screams, such a visceral display before the rise and fall of its grand doom ending, while the brilliantly titled Queer as in Fuck U(SA) highlights the juxtaposition between beauty and desolation better than anywhere. It ends touchingly with the line “I don’t feel so alone”.

It is a great ending to an album that grows on you, one that as it ends you find you’ve built a connection with; doom shot through with varying colours of emotion.