Leechfeast - Neon Crosses (2018)
Aiming big with their sophomore album,
the Slovenian group of Leechfeast have put together four tracks, each
one at least eight minutes long. It's their first album release
since 2012, though they've put together material for splits in that
time, and the atmosphere they build over the course of the new LP's
two sides is one of smothering dread, making the lengthy wait for the
follow-up something quickly forgiven as it plays.
The album leads with “Sacrosanct”,
which quickly establishes the nasty tone and gritty textures which
persist from there 'til the end, a lo-fi spoken sample providing a
nicely disorienting blare of detached reference before the bass and
drums come in to set a pace like a stoned sloth with razors in its
paws. “Halogen” follows, bringing a more concentrated throbbing
to the bass-beam swinging, plus a tasty melodic nod to a classic
piece of heaviness (cast your mind back about half a century when you
hear it yourself), and “Tar” leads the way into the second half
by diving head-first into a morass of grime you can practically feel
on your skin. “Tar” is also the longest track of the LP, and its
time is well-spent by the band as they grimly take hold of the riffs
and twist them into lethal configurations.
By the time “Razor Nest” comes
about to usher in the end, the album's already taken a compelling
journey through its soundscape of pits and pains, but the band
doesn't let up with the final track. Instead, they push on into even
more massive sound ranges, lending a grandeur to the suffering that's
almost symphonic in the way it stretches up and out, though the music
stays well-grounded with its instrumentation. As the last of it
rattles to a close, the band takes a minute to linger on some
stripped-down echoing, providing a care to it that neatly captures
the effort taken to make the album as a whole fit together in sludgy
glory. And they succeeded, pretty damn well at that.
Sludgers who want it truly dirty and
despairing, don't let this one slip by you. It's out March 30th,
dually released by Dry Cough Records and Rope Or Guillotine, with a
later cassette version from Hellas Records, and a string of European
live dates through April in various countries. Damn, I envy those of
you who get to catch those shows.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Dead Existence, Meth
Drinker, Mudbath, O.D.R.A., Zeppheroin
~
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