Labels: self released
Review by: Kunal Nandi
If the idea of a bunch of Scottish Dune-obsessives making lengthy amounts of doom metal perks your pecker up, then grab some tissues and turn this way up. IX have a dead simple way of going about things, and it’s certainly nothing out of the ordinary, especially in this day and age when you’re likely to see Sunn0)) in The bloody Guardian, but it all works to their advantage. This is a band that have had a clearly defined approach and aesthetic from the off, backed up with a fair few great riffs to their name. Actually they don’t need that many riffs at all, so hypnotically repetitive is the music. It ambles along fluidly and relentlessly, the sheer momentum of its monolithic riffs carrying it along, light on its feet, never lumbering. “Mythopoeia” is a dense, atmospheric 12-minute affair, with some minor clanging minor chord progressions giving way to more of the same only louder, before shifting into a new section. “Stone Burner” is about 20 minutes long, and pretty much follows in the same pattern. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, that’s what I like to see/hear. Highly promising stuff.