There’s something to be said for originality in doom. With most of the bands whose names contain either Witch or Wizard, you kind of know what kind of generic riffage and occult symbolism you’re gonna get. But Slomatics, their name just oozes doom, without sounding like everyone else. And when it comes to the music, the Northern Irish trio offers a similarly sludgy familiarity – again, without sounding too generic or contrived.
Canyons, their sixth album, starts off with a slow, heavy grind as “Gears of Despair” comes lurching in to the picture with some vintage Acid King vibes. Even the vocals are reeeeally spacey, maaan, with shades of Mike Scheidt, only adding to the drugged-out, cosmic proceedings. This song is nearly 10 minutes long, and yet you can probably count the tempo changes on one hand – which is not a bad thing.
The much shorter “Cosmic Guilt” (4:24) comes bludgeoning in with a gut-churning heavy riff, as vocals alternate between sinister sneer and eerie wail. “Telemachus My Son” has a fairly straightforward chugging approach that borders on noise rock, before slowing things down and throwing in some wah on the instrumental chorus. “Beyond the Canopy” starts off slow and crushing like Sons of OTIS, eventually adding an eerie organ to the proceedings without picking up the pace. It drifts into post-rock territory around the four-minute mark before the riffs return with added cosmic heft a minute and a half later.
As far as I’m concerned, we could use more outfits who draw from Yob and OTIS than Sleep and Electric Wizard. These guys are pretty solid in my books…
https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/slomatics-canyons-vinyl
(Black Bow Records)
Pre-order Links:
Gatefold Vinyl (3 colour variants) – https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/slomatics-canyons-vinyl
Cd Digipak – https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/slomatics-canyons-cd
Tape Cassette (strictly limited edition) – https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/slomatics-canyons-tape-cassette
