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It all comes down haunting you as the black magic in this album does. Get ready for a doom trip.
Alastor is a new band from Sweden, who signed with Twin Earth Records, that plays a hazy doom metal, with hypnotically sang melodies that adds a psychedelic feeling, and some wizardrous riffs – adding the stoner mood to the equation.
How is the sound ?
The album starts with an intro filled with fuzzy noises covered with microphony, with a slow fading in for the drums. The unhurried instrumental gets you going until another bunch of microphonics are thrown against you once again. And then – the song really starts. The lethargic state of these initial riffs desperately asks for a psychedelic vocal, and it eventually gets it a minute later. The vocals are hazed into bluesy colours, filled with echoes, double tracking effects and a considerably large headspace. The output is a mix of some classic influences, driven from the Black Sabbath’s doomish vocal lines, with the tone of Electric Wizard. What could get wrong, right? This whole formula will render the perfect combination between the satanic curse and the doomy perdition.
“Enemy” is overall under a hellish mood, but the pace changes a little bit in “Nothing to Fear”. This next song is notably heavier and the Temperature Level is quite higher here. There could be heard some echo-overlapped vocals in lower pitches covering the ground for the psyched up vocals do their thing. The headspace in this song is amazing. It’s aimed towards the higher frequencies in the high stripes, however, by contrast, the bass drum pushes the low end back with a fat pound, like a huge boulder falling from the second floor on a fluffy ground. “Nothing to Fear” will eventually come up with a very Master of Reality’s Sabbath-like riffage by the end of the song, coming back to its original pace right after, then ending with a slightly accelerated effect that eventually gets its threshold.
The third and last song is the longest of the three, but it is definitely the best one by far. It is almost impossible to stay sit in a chair without air drumming to this. The first 3 minutes of the song are dark, yet so groovy and thrown up at the melodic peaks that you cannot tell whether the temperature is high or low. Then the fourth minute of the song comes at you with a very melodic and inclined vocal line, endowed with a spooky melody that closely resembles Electric Wizard and Windhand, embedded in many occultish influences. The abysmal atmosphere of doom and perdition in this song is one of the best things you will experience in the listening of this whole EP.
At the mark of the eighth minute, we take the darker path of the road. Gushes of wind are evading from my audio references, while a heavy bass drum is appended to the bass guitar, both leading the way. The guitars join in on a high wave of gain, and jumps back into the melody with very heavy riffing. The snare drum work here is pretty amazing: the tempo is shattered in multiple vertical lines for the snare jobs, being alternated by jibed back bass drum lines and ride shots. “Black Magic” blinds you with fear, echoing and looping into your mind countless times, hypnotising you. Redemption is near, as the slow fire of the end of this song consumes you within it, making you feel you were born out of sin. This eerie and delicious melody slides through your brain, until the ending of the song, uncanny darkness and reverberation all around. In the end, it all comes down haunting you as black magic.
At last, the band wants to deliver a farewell message:
“Die in fire“.
Why is this album worth listening ?
- This album is a remarkable expression of doom in a form of sound. Read the last sentence again. There you go. there is your reason whether it is worth listening!
In what situation you should listen to this album ?
- If you are about to die and want to say goodbye to this earth with a doomy background.
- If your head is jumping on fluffy pillows and your mind just really needs that hard clay brick on your skull to cheer you up.
Something Particular to Note ?
I can’t see anything, maybe because this is dark as fuck!
Favorite Track
Black Magic
For Fans Of
Electric Wizard, Windhand, Goya, Black Sabbath
Atmosphere Levels
If you don't know what those "Levels" mean, please visit this page.
Fat Level
Purple Haze Level
Temperature Level
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