Lurk – Aegis
Release Date: 7th April 2023
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Doom, Death Doom, Sludge Metal.
FFO: Altar of Betelgeuse, Eibon, Usnea, Subterraen, Adramelech, Fleshpress.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Finnish Death-Doom quartet Lurk releases their forthcoming LP, Aegis, on Transcending Obscurity Records on April 7th, 2023. While clocking-in at seven tracks, it seems apparent that Lurk fully-intend on making the album feel distinctly longer through its crushingly-slow pace and depth. If you’re a fan of devastatingly-slow and “deathy” doom/sludge, you’re not going to want to pass Aegis up any time soon.
Immediately, from the first track I feel like we’re dealing with some of the dirtier, uglier (stated as a compliment) Death/Doom/Sludge music out there right now. I’m talking right out of the 20 Buck Spin bullpen. If you’re a fan of heavy, brawling, chugging guitar that doesn’t waste time trying to sound like other contemporary death metal (save for choice moments). I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by track #1, Ashlands, which is just so juicy as a track. To give you some minor idea into the effect it had on me, I had stopped doing what I was engaged in to spin that track again.
The album tends to “settle” down as the tracks progress. Shepherd’s Ravine, and Infidel chug along with ferocity, tending to give listeners the feel of a doom track, but are treated to a mixture of high and low vocal attack, obviously more akin to the death metal roots. I hate to use the term “slower” tracks on a sludge album, but there are some tracks that tend to be even sludgier, so-to-speak, filling-out the depressive, downward spiral of atmosphere. Hauta, track 4 crawls along with absolute ominous slushy, moody guitar and drum work that seems like an alternative/sludge track a la Baroness, but is belied by an absolute coup de grâce of vocal rage and power. The average length across the tracks is around five and a half minutes, meaning the listening is going to be on the ride for long intros, outtros, interludes, and furious repetition of musical phrases into insanity. The engineering and production value is very high, delineating Lurk from some of the bands who are similar in sound and intent, and for good reason. There is so much to listen for “between the lines”, such as the second guitar on Blood Surge, which, when played in proper stereo, gives the slightest feel of that guitar effect which Korn had so expertly-employed across their career. I hadn’t thought I’d bring them up, but here we are. The addition of that track gave the second half of that song an entire extra dimension which showed across the listening experience.
I kept waiting for another track like Ashlands to come back up, as I was so pumped after hearing it. However, tracks 2 through 6 seem to be the corpus of Aegis, something that I wasn’t as thrilled with as I had thought at the beginning of the first spin. It seems to be that if a new listener wanted to get the gist of what Aegis was, in totality, it would be those tracks. I think it wouldn’t be wise to try and classify this as a Death-Sludge album, as it seems to have more of a musical base (so-to-speak), lending itself to having an identity in the melody, rather than the mere obscenity and fire that most death metal might be associated with. Frankly, that’s ok.
The album finishes-off with one of the pre-released singles, The Blooming, which is more extreme than the middle tracks in menacing tones and death metal riffs. It appears that Aegis is a “sandwich” of sorts, having a first and last track of a specific style, its middle stuffed-full of another distinctive style, which is much slower, but more musical. I am not entirely certain that I was left with a finale moment on the album with The Blooming, but it is a solid track that pounds at the listener with the darkness and
Aegis is full of moments that make this a distinctly above-average offering in this extremely obscure genre. Having enough darkness, slithering pace, and extreme vocals to satiate any listener of Death, Doom, or Sludge, Aegis is definitely something that sets an absolute standard for slow, nasty metal. I think that Lurk is kicking major ass with this release. While it’s definitely not for everyone, the content on the record is very robust and cohesive. There can be no question as to what Aegis is, as it seems dripping with the artists’ intent, something that I love as a listener. Lastly, I would be absolutely silly if I didn’t mention how good the album art by Paolo Griardi is. 
(4 / 5)
