By Gruesome Greg
A Chicago sludge supergroup of sorts (I count seven people—and two dogs—in their band promo photo), Bloodiest descends into the darkest depths of doom with a sound that’s punishingly, menacingly slow, containing haunting, eerie melodic passages, and a vocalist who sounds almost inhuman. Scary stuff.
Things get off to a heavy start with the first track, “Fallen,” which is followed by “Coh,” a weird three-minute number consisting of flamenco guitar and ghostly moans. I kid you not.
The moans lead into the next track, “Pastures,” which maintains a similar style. You know where I’ve heard those vocals before? That douchebag from System of a Down. Ugh. It takes a good three minutes for something resembling a heavy riff to kick in, as the singer reaches for a higher register.
“Dead Inside” begins with some tribal drumming that somewhat reminds me of the dual-kit action of recent Melvins output. The song is equally slow, keeping time with a grandfather clock instead of a metronome.
These guys (and gal) frolic in the post-metal fields ploughed by Neurosis, though they definitely do their own thing. That being said, their thing is a little too weird for me. I’d take a meaty guitar riff over piano interludes and classical strumming any day…
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