ninehertz

We write so many reviews of doom releases it can become a struggle to find new words for “slow” – and more so, to really explain when a band goes even slower – is turgid slower than lurching? Why am I asking these stupid questions to myself?

This is the pickle I find myself in when faced with Celophys, of Ukraine and the Robust Fellow label that provides so much great doom from their country. This is reduced to such levels so as to struggle to find any forward momentum at all, with notes taking many seconds to simply revolve. Tracks seem to run out of steam at times, lumbering to a halt through exhaustion or simply lack of drive.

There’s an ever present, impressive doom tone delivered through wild winds, yet even this is permanently encumbered in its dazed state. Screeched, pained vocals enter yet are buried within the mire of clouded noise whilst the instruments lock into another churning primordial groove, weaving its spell in measured doses.

TAWA may be the best of the four tracks, where vocals croak out from the crumbled façade, the riff is stretched to oblivion, repeated into infinitum; eventually followed by stomps in deep, deliberate steps through to its conclusion. The whole album is a enjoyable exercise in restraint and doom weight, an impressive feat that worms its way into your brain the longer it goes until, well before its end, you truly understand its magic.