ninehertz

vold’s last release, the two-track, twenty-minute duck and cover, only came out last December, but they return sharpish with another couple of tracks, spread across six further minutes than last time.

They were impressive enough then, but they must have been feasting over the Christmas period as this is even better. Both tracks are around thirteen minutes long, time they utilise to really stretch and play with their downtuned doom, a duo seemingly increasingly aware of and comfortable to play with their sound.

They add various effects to augment their guitar and drum lineup, such as the winds that blow through the title track's early moments, helping generate an atmosphere even before they get into their full flow. There’s a gorgeous doom tone to the guitar sound, Om-like, which in turn evolves towards a gyrating riff operating between long, droning passages. A minute or so from its conclusion they release the handbrake for a pressure releasing blow out.

deus biomechanicae is weightier through lovely booming riffs, without taking it into the darkest corners of doom, instead giving to the listener the impression of being a traveller wandering around a mountainous terrain. There’s the famous Blade Runner Rutger Hauer speech featured in its middle (an overused sample if we’re honest), before it turns surprisingly towards a stoned and hazy desert rock chilled vibe. Only at its end does it return to doom through a bassy deep end.

At their best, vold find a path of doom drone applied just right, with intrigue and considerate steps in the patient moments, combined with sparsely used heavier forays. wrath live balance is a giant leap forward from what was already a decent (and recent) last effort – imagine where they can go next.