Altsphere 2012
1.Subrise El Muerto 2.Abandon The Wolf 3.Daemon
4.Seeth Inside 5.Accursed 6.Harbringer
Dirty buzz heavy guitars open up ‘Subrise El Muerto’ mournfully, sombre and grief stricken in essence. They are joined by some
equally tortured drumming and vocals that are etched in grief and despair.
There’s a (very) slight hint of groove to the riffs, but only slight. The
overall sense of desperation is the predominant feature to the band’s sound.
Every riff dragging along at an absolute dirt tinged crawl. The vocals are a
highlight and (for me) are what makes the band stand out. The screamed vocals
taking the lead, however guttural growled vocals are used to back up the main
vocals and when used sound immensely heavy and brutal. ‘Abandon The Wolf’ sees
more groove injected into the guitars and dare it be said, a touch more melody.
However, the air of desperation is never lost, sludgy filthy riffs creating a
real sense of horror. Again, the vocals are a real highlight, once again mixing
vocal styles and really giving this track some punch. Pace wise the song slows
to an absolute crawl, riffs stripped to an absolute minimum by using only open
chords, depressive and almost exhausting. ‘Daemon’ begins the instant the
previous track ends and begins in an almost upbeat fashion before the riffing
is once again stripped right back, the guitars
stretching open chords into oblivion. The band do flirt with ‘pace’ every now
and again, but don’t expect any blast beats here, the pace only ever being
upped slightly and never for any serious timespan, the band sitting more
comfortably in the filthy, wretched sludge induced crawl that they purvey so
brilliantly. Its doom, its sludge, it’s filthy and nasty but it’s utterly
captivating. Even though the track clocks in at 9:31, it’s not the longest on
the disc, that monster is left for later! ‘Seeth Inside’ offers up more of
the same, this track taking a more familiar ‘doom’ approach, the sludge element
to the band’s sound taking more of a back seat here. Eventully however the groove side the
band’s sound gets a relatively heaving outing with the song beginning to
almost 'bounce' along. But fear not, it’s short lived, the re-introduction of the
sombre, dirty crawling riffs mixed with the dual vocals really brings you back
down to earth with a very hefty thump. Reality punching you square in the face
and reminding you just how shit life really is!
‘Accursed’ threatens to let the
more groovy riffs burst into life, but any pace is held back brilliantly and as
ever, kept to a minimum, stopping the listener getting too carried away and
thinking ‘happy thoughts’. That’s not what WB want from you, they want to drag
you down into the shit, fuck with your head and then kick you in the face
before dumping your sorry carcass where they found it. And believe me, that’s
just what they do! The click of the drum sticks introduce the longest track on
this disc, at 11:20 you just know that ‘Harbringer’ is going to leave you feeling
exhausted after listening to it. With drums and guitars that are stripped back
to a bare minimum from the offset, the daunting task of listening to such
horror filled, depressive extreme metal becomes all too clear. Any sense of
groove or pace removed in favour of a sparse and baron sound. Not even a scream
or growl to be heard (for the first five minutes of the track) which makes ‘the
going’ even heavier and harder. Half way through the track there’s a real
change in sound with the guitars dropping out completely and the bass and drums
lead the track, a real heavy gravelly tone to the bass which holds the
atmosphere already created. As the track
draws to a close the vocals once again prove their worth, the dual vocals sound
really sick and twisted and extremely tortured and brutal, the sound once again
stripped to the bare minimum ending this marathon of a track! We’re even
treated to a ‘hidden track’, slowly coming to life after about two minutes of
absolute silence. It’s as you would expect, slow, tortured, dirty, brutal,
depressive, exhausting, sick but utterly compelling and a joy to listen to.
Four Tired Undertakers is an excellent follow up to the 2011 epic ‘Pure Filth’.
Some of the influences seen on their debut dropped in favour of a more
doom/sludge sound but that’s not a criticism by any means, it’s simply an
observation and see’s the band stripping their sound down to the absolute
minimum but without losing any of their appeal. This release is as extreme as
you’re likely to hear from a band that chooses to keep their songs slow, very
slow. Each track stands out, never sounding drawn out or monotonous which is an
achievement in itself for such long tracks. Want to get down in the dirt and
revel in the horror and grime, then get this cd…you will not be disappointed.
Comes highly recommended
8 out of 10
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