We last heard from this Chicago post-sludge supergroup (of sorts) in 2011, with their debut album Descent, which was pretty decent. But almost a full five years have passed, and Bloodiest’s ranks have been narrowed from a nine-musician collective to a solid sextet, which appears on all tracks on this one. So while I might have some idea what to expect going in, it’s not necessarily Descent Pt. Deux.
“Mezmerize” is a bit of a slow dragger, with some Jason Roeder-style drumming anchoring an otherwise uneventful track. “The Widow” maintains the same meandering, mid-paced tempo, somewhat akin to ISIS or Neurosis, albeit without as many tempo changes. There are even shades of folk metal here…or maybe just folk, though we do get a couple heavy riffs in this one, even going full-out stoner doom in the final minute.
“Broken Teeth” veers more toward the kind of blackened sludge we often hear from the Midwest, aside from the mostly soaring vocals—though this one also comes with a pretty sick growl/breakdown combo. “He Is Disease” takes that same blackened sound, and throws in some chants and chimes for good measure before “Separation” ends things on a sparse, spacey note. No real complaints here, but it didn’t really wow me, either.
