Ah German true-doom, always a pleasure. More than that though- 'Lunia' also mixes in heavy doses of stoner psychedelia and ambient experimental weirdness across the four tracks that make up this epic 60-minute "EP". Very nicely done it is too, concocting an atmosphere that is at once sinister and spaced-out, full of towering, laid-back hooks and paranoid, creeping pulses.
Opener 'Inhale Lucifer' drags along to a crawling, monolithic riff that would sound right at home on Electic Wizard's 'Witchcult Today', occasionally spilling over into languid, melodic solos and forever returning to the same hypnotic, minimalist riff that's so unsettling and raw as to possess an almost Burzum-like quaility. It's a subtle but hugely effective mix, and it puts me in the mood of Reverend Bizarre's excellent 'Dunkelheit' cover.
The title track is a very laid back number, bursting from subtle beginnings into a huge, bluesy St Vitus-style riff, floating along at a leisurely pace, gradually sinking down into a mellowed-out trance whilst echo-laden fragments of guitar scrabble and shimmer on the surface, before kicking right back into that welcoming, fuzzy groove.
A mesmeric loop of turntable-fuzz and the eerie tapping and bending of strings leads into the anthemic 'Doomed Utopia' -the real meat of the cd- which strikes down with a massive, crunchy bass riff that Reverend Bizarre would most definitely be proud of. It gallops along in slow-motion, bouncy and full of stamina, pulling back occasionally to allow for the excellent, despairing, gruff-yet-clean stoner vocals then running away again as before, progressing effortlessly into a slowly sinking progression, muscular yet morose, complete with a soaring melodic lead, wringing out out every last drop of sorrow.
Magnificent.
Closer 'Ghosts of Dying Time' is a sprawling beast, up-tempo with a stoner groove and rocky, sun-bleached leads early on but turning later to massive, pounding riffs that just barely manage to retain an ounce of momentum, complemented by the crawling clash and thud of increasingly tribal drums and reminding so strongly of the slowest parts of 'Harbinger of Metal' that I'm forced to reference the Reverend yet again. The song then slowly dissipates into the void, warped and tuneless guitars peeling away as the drums gain pace, gradually collapsing in on itself until nothing but reverb and fragments remain.
'Lunia' might not be a staggeringly original album but it's beautifully executed and full of feeling. It's extremely well structured from beginning to end, ebbing and flowing effortlessly from dredged-up, slow-mo riffs to dread-soured New Age ambience and back in such a way that it feels like a single piece rather than a collection of songs. A proper album then -sorry, 'EP'- and a real pleasure to listen to. It's apparently limited to a mere 500 copies though, so definitely one to hunt down. Doom Onwards!
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Ross Taylor
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