This “southern doom crew” are straight outta Dorset and have no doubt shattered the senses of tranquil holiday goers and retirees from Bournemouth when they crank up their amps. It’s not only the blue rinse wrinkle brigade whose attention they have caught either, getting the Bloodstock organisers on board and gaining a slot on the Hobgoblin stage there too in 2017. They may well be relatively new and this is just a debut self-released EP but pumping it out the speakers it is quickly evident that they have a sound that is full of groove, crunch and gravity. It’s probably about time they were due some wider recognition.
The understated ‘Intro (Instrumental)’ ebbs in with some chanting and a sense of ‘Om’ about it building with a sense of grace and atmosphere. It draws the listener in getting denser and giving the sense something mighty is about to come. It finally does with ‘Worthless’ and we can see why vocalist / guitarist Bear lives up to his name as he unleashes a mighty “roaaaaar.” Romping off this is a hefty and sludgy mass of weight as it barrels away and pushes everything over like a bully in a school playground. No doubt live there will be plenty of shoving going on during it too. Injecting a solo and plenty of melody into things gives it some breathing space and allows things to develop with everyone in the quartet getting in on the action. An acoustic and near ambient break is injected so everyone can grab a breath and the grizzly vocals bite back in and the track gradually rolls off and trundles over anyone still left standing. One feels they may have been holding back a little on the speed side of things going for plenty of mid-paced crush with this but next track ‘Hafgufa’ picks things up and bruises mightily with a brawling sensibility that should go down well with fans of bands like Raging Speedhorn and Iron Monkey. There’s some pretty cool cleaner vocals rising out the depths and soaring up and speaking of which in case you too were wondering the track title takes name for a massive sea monster from Icelandic mythology. If it hasn’t quite sunk you there’s always the final title-track to contend with. Again there’s plenty of restraint shown allowing instruments to groove away and get heads bouncing along to the melody before a hardcore stomp and chest beating heft powers away. The cleaner vocals are interesting here again as a contrast to the rugged growls and they definitely add more dimension to the overall sound of the band.
Thuum certainly hit the spot here and although early days yet, they could well be a name to watch out for.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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