Labels: Svart
Review by: Alex Deller
The debut full-length from Heavydeath is something I’ve been listening to for a while now, but how to describe it has largely evaded me. The problem, I think, is that it’s so deceptively simple. In less capable hands the riffs would be shown for what they are: rudimentary, slumberous things with little change in pace or variation. In Heavydeath’s grip, however, they become hypnotic and ritualistic, capable of transfixing you while something truly awful occurs. Vocals are variously chanted or gurgled, but either way they add to the mesmeric murk and keep you locked into that rigid, entranced state that’s like a strange wakeful death. It’s a rare thing, and in this field one that relatively few acts (see: Bong, Om…) are really achieving at the moment. Colour me captured, and hungry for more of the eternal sleep they’re peddling, regardless of the consequences.