Erronaut - The Space Inbetween

Erronaut – The Space Inbetween
Release Date: 30th August 2024
Label: London Doom Collective
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom, Stoner Doom, Grunge.
FFO: Primitive Man, Lo!, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna, Yob, The Old Wind, Breach.
Review By: Mark Young

The Space Inbetween represents the debut release from the artists formerly known as Black Atlas, via the London Doom Collective, who have been doing good work in getting some quality music out there (Old Horn Tooth, check their latest, Mourning Light). There are some heavy-duty inspirations on offer here, moving within 70s rock through to the desert back to grunge, check out the FFO below to get the full picture. I certainly embraced the grunge movement at the time and looking back I find less of a draw when compared to 70s rock, especially Black Sabbath, so with that In mind I approached this with a little bit of trepidation. Way Down Below comes in, energetic drums and a riff that could be described as sprawling. Clean vocals are the order of the day here, delivered with a steady hand by Mikey Ward, with a melodic lead break that hints of offering more than just giving us the traditional heavy approach. Those echoes of influence past are all over Lost Cause, which has a delicious mixed 70s/stoner vibe running right through it. Mikey’s vocals adapt accordingly to suit, with a necessary edge now apparent, making it sound more vital. There is a willingness to make these little switches that give each song a different feel whilst keeping to the overall sludgy feel. Per Contra is a great example of having these melodic touches that flatten the harder aspects without it losing any of the aggressive edge, with Dark Horizon another, its lo-fi start that leads into a super-focused sound that you could almost class as sludge-lite. They are both examples of a great understanding of what makes a song tick. The latter has another one of those brill riff patterns that combines with another stand-out vocal line.

The closing pair of aces, Beyond Sleep Pts. 1 and 2 represent that successful pulling of their formative influences into one place, the need for that heavy edge whilst maintaining a melodic focus. Part 2 looks to gift us what you could call an extended jam and acts as a suitable finish to an encouraging release. We are certainly experiencing a purple patch in terms of UK extreme music, and it is equally encouraging that more music like this is coming through at the same time as Hidden Mothers, Heriot, Pupil Slicer, Mountain Caller, all have released or about to release new music. It is a great start for them, let’s see what they do next.