ninehertz

There’s something about this release that held promise before even hearing it – most likely the awesome artwork. As the opening lines of first song Stramonium arrive, you know it’ll hold up to that expectation. It has a cinematic drama to it, like a soundtrack to a Fargo episode. It develops into what I now know is their own little niche sound, one which reminds me a touch of the great Coltaine. Its edge is in how they seek to create in the gaps, finding unspoilt lands between doom, post-metal and ethereal landscapes, an idyll they delightfully name “doomgays”.

After a brief interlude of animal calls, Canicula backs up the excellent start. It has a stalking post-rock, post-metal feel, but also a little like Royal Thunder in their heyday with its forest-gothic turns, the vocals a beacon leading through the undergrowth formed by the strangely slight-psychedelic guitars, increasing into a swirl around your head. The song grows right to the end, by which point you’ll have fallen completely into its spell.

Fawning the Flame changes tack, a smoky, bluesy number with sultry vocals that could be from a whisky bar in the early hours. The backing guitar’s increasingly prominent wail is the only driver to lead you away from that perception, bringing reminders of Chelsea Wolfe’s more stripped back work. Solovino has a a doom overture present, a gothic spell cast once more, a bleakness to its mood, before ending the album with a Free Palestine chanted sample.

Despite significant song lengths, it is over too quickly – a measure of how engrossing their music is and a desire to hear much more from this Californian quartet.