Life, the debut from Portland doom duo Taurus, consisted of two 15+ minute tracks: “Life Pt. 1” and “Life Pt. 2.” No/Thing, their sophomore effort, has five songs, and things are slightly more structured this time around. Song lengths, for the most part, are shorter than the debut — though several still exceed 10 minutes. There are also more voices here, including Wrest, as well as Billy Anderson, who I previously thought was just some mythical creature that cranks out super sludge records. 😉
Although there are no guest appearances on album-opener “No Thing Longing… Human Impermanence” (Holy Literary Pretentiousness, Batman!), it sorta sounds like something you’d get when you cross Leviathan with one of the more obscure sludge nuggets from Anderson’s discography. Chilling black-metal screams cut across the downtuned gloom, intercut with death-metal growls and eerie chanting. This one keeps a slow ‘n steady pace, occasionally allowing a meaty sludge riff to surface. Imagine The Body on acid… if that actually makes them sound better.
Not surprisingly, each track flows into the next, although a couple of them are essentially interludes (if you can say that about a song that lasts four-and-a-half minutes). Anderson makes his appearance on “Increase Aloneness,” a tune that starts off like a horror soundtrack with spooky keys and airy chants — I’m pretty sure Billy’s voice is in there somewhere. Well, it starts out that way, and continues along that path for a really long time. Maybe slap an “atmospheric drone” tag on there if you feel like making up subgenres.
(taurusisdust.bandcamp.com/album/no-thing)
