DamnA re-worked version of a 2009 demo, ‘Disciples of the Hex’ is the debut album by this Lancashire-based doom/death trio. The first thing that struck me when I headed to the band’s metal archives page was just how Celtic Frost-y their logo looked. A band member peeping out from beneath a black beanie cemented the impression, and it was with ‘Monotheist’ firmly in mind that I hit the play button.

It’s nice to be right occasionally. There’s certainly no shortage of Tom G worship here; great cyclopean (in the Lovecraftian sense), downtuned riffs chugging away are the order of the day, the songs all consisting of simplistic rhythms that groove and lurch forward in satisfyingly crunchy fashion. It sounds like ‘Monotheist’ alright, albeit with a bit of crawling, Candlemass-style doom thrown in too, and even the vocals are hugely reminiscent of Tom G’s distinctive nasal crooning, barking out occult ravings over the churning guitars. Occasionally there are old-school thrashy bursts met with a thundering double bass pedal;  a throwback to CF’s 80s roots, and a narrowly-melodic solo will occasionally blaze over the top of the proceedings, but the core of the album is groove-chug-repeat from start to finish.

This is no bad thing when done right, and all of the songs are reasonably strong on their own, with the changes in tempo and direction making for an initially engaging dynamic, but the attempts at creating atmosphere, both vocally and instrumentally, tend to fall rather flat, and there just isn’t enough character to the songs to keep things interesting for long.  The spark isn’t quite there somehow, which is a shame as the album is enjoyable in small doses with its chunky, no-bullshit riffs and complete lack of pretension. It’s lacking in real substance though, needing an injection of real caustic emotion and blackened-and-smoldering passion to get its simplistic arrangements off the ground. The vocals are perfunctory but lacking in any great depth or variation, and whilst the lyrics actually look quite good on paper, they don’t do much to dispel the air of superficiality. Lovecraft references are all well and good (writes Erich Zann), but mentioning the mountains of madness, the Necronomicon, the Ancient Ones and that quote about strange aeons one after the other gives the impression of reading from a shopping list rather than devouring the pages of some blasphemous, long-forgotten tome.

A small complaint, that last one, but it’s symptomatic of a deeper problem, which is that despite all that ‘Disciples of the Hex’ gets right, it ultimately feels frustratingly derivative and one-dimensional. I really wish I could give it a higher score, but it’s just not quite there. It’s still an endearing, and often fun piece of headbangable Frost worship, but it feels too much like a facsimile to really get those black juices flowing.

(6.5/10 Erich Zann)

http://damnationshammer.bandcamp.com/