With both of these Relapse sludgy doomsters known for their droning, drawn-out numbers, I’m surprised this split between Primitive Man and Unearthly Trance is under 45 minutes. Each band gets three songs, with the opening track “Merging” serving as a mysterious one-minute collaboration between them both.
Actually scratch that, Primitive Man’s A Side only has two other numbers, and they’re both pretty epic. The 10-and-a-half-minute “Naked” takes a little while to get going, as the first few minutes are mostly just feedback. The first inkling of a riff doesn’t come in until just after three minutes, and it’s a little lighter than what we’d expect from PM—more along the lines of Neurosis, but still backed by a voluminous swirl of feedback. They do get heavier and sludgier before the vocals come in around 5:30, but they definitely aren’t going anywhere fast.
“Love Under Will” is only slightly shorter at a shade over nine min. They definitely couldda shaved some time off the top—the first couple minutes are just some sound effects that come off as background noises from The Blair Witch. Actually, it’s not just the first couple minutes. It’s all nine of them… although they do add an underwater, unintelligible, spoken-word vocal toward the end?
Unearthly Trance opens Side B with “Mechanism Error,” a seven-minute number that wastes little time in getting down to sludgy business—the first vomitous vocals arrive around the 45-second mark. This song is also slow and sparse, but at least it offers a little more to nod yer head to. “Triumph” is even more pointed, opening with a mighty roar and a chugging riff. This one even borders on slow-mo death metal…perhaps we’ll call it death doom?
“Reverse the Day” starts off with a similarly gloomy outlook, with a drum-driven verse leading to a percussion-heavy chorus. The vocal bile is strong with this one, too. “418” ends things on a rather anti-climatic note, with harsh vocals and shimmering feedback. Hate to say it, but this mostly sounds like a collection of throwaway tracks.
primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com/album/split-w-unearthly-trance
PRIMITIVE MAN:
8/17/2018 Temple Of Ascension Vol. 1 – Edmonton, AB
8/18/2018 Psycho Las Vegas @ Hard rock Hotel And Casino – Las Vegas, NV
8/29/2018 Junkyard – Dortmund, DE
8/30/2018 IFZ- Leipzig, DE
8/31/2018 KB18 – Copenhagen, DK
9/01/2018 1000fryd – Aalborg, DK
9/02/2018 Hafenklang – Hamburg, DE
9/03/2018 Magasin4Brussels, BE
9/04/2018 Tiefgrund – Berlin, DE
9/05/2018 Poglos – Warsaw, PL
9/06/2018 Fuga – Bratislava, SK
9/07/2018 Desszert Feszt Budapest Opening Party – Budapest, HU
9/08/2018 Reflektor Venue – Timisoara, RO
9/09/2018 Something For The Core VII – Bucharest, RO
9/10/2018 Mocvara – Zagreb, HR
9/11/2018 Circolo Magnolia – Milano, IT
9/12/2018 Sunset Bar – Martigny, CH
9/13/2018 Gaswerk – Winterthur, CH
9/14/2018 Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE
9/15/2018 Bloodshed Fest 2018 – Eindhoven, NL
UNEARTHLY TRANCE:
8/19/2018 Psycho Las Vegas @ Hard Rock Hotel And Casino – Las Vegas, NV
www.primitivemandoom.com | www.facebook.com/primitivemandoom | primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/UnearthlyTrance | unearthlytrance.bandcamp.com
