Cavernlight – As I Cast Ruin Upon the Lens That Reveals my Every Flaw
Release Date: 13th May 2022
Label: Translation Loss Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom, Sludge.
FFO: Coltsblood, Conan, Pallbearer.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Fuck me, but this is an intensely dark album! However, having listened previously to the debut album of Wisconsin based Cavernlight, it was to be expected that their sophomore album would continue the theme. As I Cast Ruin Upon the Lens That Reveals my Every Flaw is the convoluted name of the album, now to be referred to as As I Cast…, should not, however, be written off. Yes, it is dark, yes it is bleak, but it is ridiculously heavy and, ridiculously, demands multiple listens.
Opening track, ‘Accepting the Fate I’ve Created’ is over 6 minutes long, and only contains 31 words, albeit some of them often repeated. However, it is 3 minutes 42 seconds in before you are booted up your arse (ass for American readers) with the heavy! And, it is HEAVY…. From the, frankly depressing lyrical content….;
Every hearth will feel the touch of frost. Every root will feel the thirst of drought. Every mouth will feel the sting of famine. Everything that feeds this life will vanish.
…through to the soul-destroying heaviness of the riff, it is a song that epitomizes the album. If you don’t buy into this opening track, the album will be, rather disappointingly, lost on you. If this is the case, then I genuinely pity you, as you will then miss out on an album that also has subtle hints of bleak beauty amongst the harrowing misery.
As I Cast… is a bleak album, that cannot be denied, but it doesn’t bring you down. The darkness is hidden by the sheer ‘Doominess’ of the album. The riffs, the sheer monolithic atmosphere of the 8 tracks on show and the superb delivery of Cavernlight turn a dark album into high art of the highest standard.
There are no weak moments in the album, as I have said, if you don’t get the first track, this album is finished for you. The good thing is, for those of us with a highly intellectual, very heavy metal, musical palette, As I Cast… is as consistent a Doom album as you could ever hope for. Even the spoken lyrics in, ‘A Shimmering View’ make sure that the one track on the album with a change of pace remains dark, with the words describing consummate internal pain.
‘I still find myself struggling. I find myself suffocating. I reach for the shimmering surface, but I never really breach it. I can never interact with others or with reality without feeling disconnected, isolated. I can never interact with clarity, without struggling to understand.’
Cavernlight have managed to create an intriguing album. One of the bleakest I have heard in many years but with a, and I cannot think of a better word, ‘charm’ that encourages repeat listens.
This is high level doom metal!
(4 / 5)
