Seraphic Entombment – Sickness Particles Gleam
Release Date: 13th October 2023
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Death Doom.
FFO: Disma, Cruciamentum, Autopsy, Swallowed.
Review By: Jeff Finch
Subgenres can be such a pain to keep track of, but in the world of Doom, though there are variations, it’s at least somewhat likely that most things labeled doom are going to follow some sort of protocol that get the patented head-nod from listeners, and this starts with riffs. Debut full length LP from Alabama doomers Seraphic Entombment, while not bringing anything new to the table in doom, do one thing very well: riffs.
5 tracks: 55 minutes. Seraphic Entombment is not messing around here, giving listeners a massive helping of doom but in such a compact track listing that to get lost in the music is a foregone conclusion, when each track averages a beefy 11 minutes per. And over the course of those minutes, listeners are battered with heft, notes played with intent, constantly tuned low and bringing us down to the depths. Because if one thing can be said about this new album, it’s that it’s filthy. It’s grimy, it’s heavy, it’s a wasteland of quicksand, never allowing one to escape its grasp. Low growls complement the riffs well, another notch in the event horizon that is this record, rarely removing themselves from a demonic low, but occasionally bordering into the land of terrifying, as howls of pain are dotted throughout, an atmosphere of pure anguish oozing from one’s speakers, sometimes made only more palpable by the sheer simplicity of the music. The pace is constant, apart from some brilliantly included double bass throughout, and that’s the selling point here; letting the riffs take over. Nothing on this album outdoes the riff, everything is a complementary piece of the puzzle.
Opener Vault of Vision opens with droning guitars, shifting to the main tempo wherein the drums and riffs are synced up until the double bass is introduced, generating a palpable sense of urgency that’s shattered when the music slows, the riffs droning as the vocals extend and fall off into the abyss. The middle portion of this behemoth introduces some chanting (the only way I can word it) in the background as the riffs pummel, an eerie continuation that blends nicely when the main rhythm returns, a solo breaking up the sheer weight of oppression presented thus far. Angel’s Entrail is more of the same in the sense that the riffs are front and center, but what it introduces that was somewhat lacking on the first track is a steady rhythmic bass that’s picked up in the mix; it’s hard to stand out when the guitars are as distorted and heavy as these are, but to be able to pick out the bass is a treat, because that rumbling just adds to the oppressive atmosphere, thick and downtuned, shifting in tandem with the rest of the band as our lead vocalist howls in agony.
Despite their 8 and 9 minute runtimes, respectively, our next two tracks Carried by Claws and Writing Lungs seem to be the most hurried of the bunch, a fevered, frenzied approach, driven home by the constant double bass and the matching intensity of the lead guitars; it doesn’t approach typical death or black metal speed but what it does is add a killer element to what has, thus far, been a doom and gloom show. Don’t get me wrong, these tracks are also doom and gloom, especially taking into consideration that repulsive low from our vocalist and the random but haunting howls of agony and despair peppered throughout; nothing happy exists in these tracks, but a bit of tempo change is enough to perk the ears and sit listeners on the edge of their seats, waiting for the assault.
Final track Quivering Majesty comes out of the gate cranked to 11, double bass, frenetic drum fills, some nasty alternative picking to generate the speed on the riffs, more chaotic drumming to keep us floored before the inevitable transition into the droning, as we hear more chanting in the background, almost hymnal in nature; but this isn’t your Sunday best, this is the straight from the depths, as the guitar throws us feedback, drums slow to a crawl, all coming to a crescendo as our vocalist hits us with his vitriolic lows. Around the midpoint of this track, the guitars and drums kick up in intensity, that palpable sense of frenzied urgency oppressively thick, the vocals reaching a high, throat shredding shriek just before we’re thrown back into the hymnal chanting, that haunting melody transitioning into some controlled chaos, the last few minutes just a barrage of riffs, bass, atmosphere, the end drawing near, both literally and figuratively, the album coming to an end, the hauntingly torturous sonic landscape brought to a close as layered vocals ripped straight from the depth of hell combine with the frenetic drumming as the music suddenly stops and all we hear is noise; white noise with malintent oozing from within, a persistent darkness writing just beyond the surface.
Seraphic Entombment, in releasing their debut Sickness Particles Gleam, has made their presence known in the world of metal, if they haven’t already done so prior to this. The riffs are meaty, the bass is thick, the drumming is chaotic and restrained simultaneously, and the vocals are simply tortured. In the world of doom, that spells sure success, especially if they can throw some curveballs like they did here, with the chanting (again, bad term) and the tempo shifts. What they do on this album isn’t reinventing the wheel or trying to make doom theirs and theirs alone; rather, it’s giving listeners a hefty slab of doom to slake their thirsts for the dirty and grimy that only doom seems to be able to bring in spades. Keep your eyes out for these guys, they aren’t going anywhere.
(4.5 / 5)
