I have not heard from this L.A. sludge crew since their self-titled debut in 2011. Seven Sisters of Sleep have put out another album—and a whole shitload of splits—since then, but now that they’ve signed to Relapse, their status is about to get a big boost.
While you might accuse such a band of dropping out of life with bong in hand, based solely on its moniker, their music actually compares more to Noothgrush than that other Oakland outfit. (No, not Neurosis…) “Jones” kicks off the album with blast beats, a blackened slice of crustcore that recalls latter-day Darkthrone. But “Denounce” slows things down considerably, getting right into the downtuned doom that definitely shows shades of Oakland’s ooziest, with a dash of death-doom a la Coffins thrown in for good measure. (Hey, aren’t they opening for both bands in L.A. or something?)
“Gutter” kicks you to the curb with some Dystopian jams before going full-on black metal at a blistering clip. “Sacred Prostitute” actually starts off with what sounds like a cello before launching into some crunchy sludge a la Crowbar, albeit with a blackened burst at the end. Its sister tune “Ud-Nun” dooms things down even further, with some slow ‘n heavy breakdowns, before taking on a more hardcore approach. And the “Bastard Son” at the end of the album is perhaps the slowest, heaviest of the bunch…at least up till the last couple minutes, where it’s even bleaker than black metal, and just as fast. This is one solid slice of sludge!
