You suffer, I suffer, we all suffer. With a name like this one could expect Suffer Yourself to play grindcore but the track lengths and label suggest something quite different. This Swedish / Ukranian act are new to me and seem to have been silent in their suffering since 2016 when they released 2nd album Ectoplasm. Stanislav Govorukha appears to be the glue holding them together since 2011 and during that period he has relocated more recently to Sweden where he has gathered more likeminded souls, the attention of Aesthetic Death and no surprise, the mastering talents of Greg Chandler.

Yes, this is funeral doom right down to the fantastic “caught in the storm at sea” artwork of JMW Turner, but there is a bit more going on here than just that. The first number ‘Spit In The Chasm’ is a 20 minute behemoth and embraces all the tropes of the genre. There’s the ambient rumbling build-up evolving into weeping and incredibly melodic doom-laden guitars and slow building drums, the gruff and weathered, craggy vocals and a huge sense of ponderous atmosphere. It instantly leaves any listener versed in such a style comfortably numb and far from ship-wrecked as they are caught in this tide and prepare themselves to cling to the sides for dear life and try not to be thrown overboard. There’s a shrill guitar cadence and some incredibly intricate guitar work that is reminiscent in style to that 1st wonderful Ahab album, we are very much all at sea here. Having spat into the chasm, the wind picks up and throws it back in our voyager’s faces as speed and drama build into a doom-death gallop and sense of turmoil. Seasickness is quite acceptable as we lurch all over the deck and fans of artists such as Evoken and Esoteric themselves will be in their element here as they begin to frantically untie the lifeboats. From the danger a sense of calmness or maybe resignation settles, will there be salvation for our crew or are the mariners doomed to haunt the waters for eternity? Lamentation takes the form of cello courtesy of guest Jiro Yoshioka, enthralling all the more over this epic odyssey.

Although the sound and ideology flow throughout the album the other two tracks are not of the same mould. ‘Désir de trépas maritime (Au bord de la mer je veux mourir)’ calls to the sea to provide a watery grave but does so via acoustic guitar & cello at first before jagged chords texture this eulogy complete with ghostly sampled verse in French. Where this derives from is unknown but it is highly atmospheric and gives one the impression of a ghost ship bereft of crew and life. Serving as a short outro ‘Submerging’ sees the once majestic craft sinking. This is credited to one Ugasanie (Pavel Malyshkin) and completes this voyage to the depths forevermore. Although feeling like a complete tale my only complaint is I could easily have handled another chapter as at just over half an hour this is a little on the short side (something you don’t often say about funeral doom). Aside from this, Rip Tide is the perfect journey and fans of the genre should not hesitate to submerge themselves in its oceanic fathoms.

(8/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/SufferYourself

https://sufferyourself.bandcamp.com

https://www.aestheticdeath.com/releases.php?mode=singleitem&albumid=5099