Doom and sludge metal has not been a favourite genre of mine for a few years now but the recent awesome album by Sweden’s Serpent Omega, ‘II’, changed that so I decided to give Subterraen a go which turned out to be a very wise decision indeed. The ever growing impressive roster from Transcending Obscurity continues with the addition of this gargantuan trio from France whose debut offering is a noxious potent hybrid of sludge doom infected with toxin strains of blackened malfeasance. All the tracks span double digits except one bridging interlude as the album opens with the immense ‘Blood For The Blood Gods’ and one of the most dramatic and foreboding intro sequences I’ve heard in a very long time in extreme metal. As the slow gradual build-up calmly filters in that sense of dread envelops the song before the crushing metal crashes in like a volcanic impaction. The vocals have a harshness of a blackened hardcore style, throat stripping causticity as the guitar work is embellished with some deft fret trickery before the track is turned on its head with an abrupt riff change. As that riff change gathers its forces the song shifts in pace brilliantly to produce a cool catchiness I absolutely loved here. The jarring tangential halt in proceedings was expected as the whole song pivots sublimely to plunge it into an abyssal vat of miasmal sludge pacing that sees the song unveil an ambient phase and lightly applied kick drum. As this phase continues the song adopts a more doom like posture towards its conclusion that sequentially escalates in power towards the purified sonic horror in the finale. Absolutely staggering opener!
The feedback fade-in to ‘For A Fistful Of Silver’ leads surprisingly into a blasted section with grisly vocals that possess a slight echo as the blackened touches rise up here. Again the song nosedives into an abyssal crevasse where the speed drops massively which was expected but is no less impacting as the degree of wretchedness and distortion is colossally effective. The hugely swerving tempo dynamics are awesome too as the song utilises temporary ambient sections to great effect peppering them effectively through the song as the inhuman vocals do their absolute best to scald the listener with corrosive intent as ‘Oceans Are Rising’ bridges the gap between this and the monumental closer with a couple of minutes of soundscaping. The ambient toning has a slight melancholy to it, with acoustic phrasing and a delicacy that contrasts hugely with the other compositions,
As the interlude disperses the album finishes with the immense 18 minutes of ‘Wrath Of A Downtrodden Planet’ which typifies what this album is about; the impact humankind has had on this planet and revenge that mother nature is wreaking and will continue to wreak if we don’t amend our ways now and in the future. The way this song starts mirrors how the album opens, that sense of foreboding dread, a crushing dense blanket amidst the songs funereal pacing. The defiling choking intensity is palpable as the vocals inflict savagery and barbarity with elongated toning through strangulated lyrics and a terrorizing assault. I cannot overstate just how distraught the vocals are done here as the pacing sees a slight shift upwards utilising drum fill sequencing that surrenders the sludge filled slithering for doom laden despondency. As the song crawls along it sinks to new levels of grimacing torture with horrifyingly effective vocal shrieks where a slight pause ensues to unfurl an isolated deep riff and drum fills as a submerging bituminous segment skewers the listener. As the segment continues it decreasingly slows down with each passing second until you’re left squirming in the sewer where time is immobilised and the song has drifted into an ambient piece with spoken voices. There is a ghostly texture here, where those spoken voices drift hazily around right before the song explodes with unceremonious violence producing a post hardcore styling very briefly that is quickly superseded for a buzz saw riffing base and utterly pulverising concluding three minutes.
Subterraen’s monstrous debut is a statement of intent, their traumatizing sonic experience is wholly disturbing and will resonate with sludge/doom fans worldwide.
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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