Viva Las Vegas! Everything coming out of this city is of monstrous proportions, from novelty cowboy hats to casino jackpot wins, so it’s no surprise that up and coming doom outfit Demon Lung’s sound is so awe-inspiringly enormous. ‘The Hundredth Name’ is this four piece’s debut full length, following the release of their EP ‘Pareidolia’ last year.
The majority of first albums have that charming aspect of sounding like they were recorded inside a tin can; however, Demon Lung’s production quality is that of a much more established band, making it a pleasure to listen to. What really sets these guys apart from the crowd though is that they’re not getting by on the meal ticket of “look, we’re fronted by a lady!” instead they let the guitar do the talking for them. The melodies and shrill, tortured tones their axes are emitting would not sound out of place on a record by The Black Dahlia Murder; obviously, in the spirit of traditional doom, it’s been slowed down by about ninety percent.
Shanda’s vocals are in keeping with the crawling pace of the music and are surprisingly deep for a female, but they make the band slightly more accessible as a result due to their clean, mellowed out nature. The drums echo within each track and instead of ritual cymbal abuse or slow, plodding methodical skin bashing, there is actually a sense that the percussion is an intrinsic part of each song and it dictates the pace instead of fading to the background and quickly becoming irrelevant.
Of course this opus isn’t entirely unflawed; there are passages of feedback that drag on for far too long, wasting precious minutes of the listener’s life that they’ll never get back and using up time that could be spent on interesting riffs. This can all be forgiven, however, as the foursome have created some genuinely interesting and unique sounding metal – much like Candlemass on valium.
(8/10 Angela Davey)
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