Moss ‘Carmilla (Marcilla) / Spectral Visions’ 10″/DD 2014
Me and Moss, we go back a long way. Once, I played in Bunkur and we shared the stage with Moss a couple of times. They were slow and extreme, we were slower and more extreme, but a mutual respect was there. We even did a split together. After a while we got out of touch and I lost interest in the whole extreme-as-we-can-be-doom stuff. They released two albums that I missed completely. Back then I could never have expected Olly to be able to sing for real, or for Moss to actually start playing traditional doom. But just that has happened!
Horrible Nights came as a complete surprise to me when it came out, but it blew my socks off anyway. They crushed the Green Room at Roadburn and good times were had. And now, after leaving Rise Above, these lads have taken matters in their own hands and have released this sweet two song EP on 10” vinyl.
The band has clearly found their way with their new style and continues what they started on Horrible Nights. Slow, plodding doom with crushingly heavy and low guitars, rumbling drums and the whailing voice of Olly howling from the void beyond.
Carmilla (Marcilla) is an almost ten minute dirge in which the band attempts to suck the life out of you and they succeed if you ask me. Completely dark and crushing. I can imagine that there are people who would consider this boring, but those people and I are not of the same species. I revel in the repetition, I live for the filthy crunching guitars and those ghastly vocals.
Spectral Visions has more of a Lovecraftian theme, ancient beings from beyond time taking over your mind. The atmosphere is still as suffocating as in their old work, even with the different approach. There is still this heavy layer of negativity all throughout their music. The screams may be gone, but perhaps the vocals sound more fitting now. Menacing and desperate at the same time. Towards the end of the track noise comes into the foreground and it all disintegrates into nothingness.
This is an excellent EP and well worth it for anyone into seriously heavy doom.
Label: Stone Tapes
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter
Scribed by: Kevin Kentie
