Never before has a band been more aptly named, as Slow deliver some of the most dense, crushing funeral doom I have ever heard. However, instead of being a reference to the pace of the music, Slow is actually an acronym of Silence Lives Out/Over Whirlpool although I found myself coming up with other things it could stand for while listening including ‘Sonic Layers Of Woe’ which I felt was apt.
Hailing from Belgium, Slow have been going since 2007 and if I recall correctly, ’Abîmes I’ is their seventh album. Having started out as ambient doom/drone the band have evolved over the years into the current ambient funeral doom showcased here across four tracks lasting almost 44 minutes, culminating in the mammoth ‘Collapse’, clocking in at over fourteen minutes. Having said that, this really is best considered as one piece of music rather than individual tracks.
The bass plods menacingly, as the music unfurls itself like a dense claustrophobic cloud, tightening itself around you, squeezing out any remaining hope as it contracts itself tighter and tighter. Déhà’s vocals are equally moribund with harsh screams of forlorn hope.
I am not usually a fan of music at this end of the musical spectrum, but I found myself intrigued and pulled deeper and deeper into Slow’s irresistible, world of melancholy and misery with a feeling of implosion. As much as the music has a devastating intensity, it is also somehow relaxing and cathartic. Each time I reached the end of the album, I felt cleansed and reinvigorated – Perhaps that was because it felt as though a weight had been lifted once the weighty tomes came to an end, or perhaps it was a more intrinsic effect of the music itself. Either way, I will be exploring the back catalogue as soon as possible, and fully expect this album to remain on repeat for a while, and I never thought I’d say that about a doom album!
(8/10 Andy Pountney)
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