Review: Demons Of Noon ‘Death Machine’
Auckland, New Zealand’s Demons Of Noon’s press release describes the band’s sound as a ‘smoldering, doom cult colossus’ and after sitting with this record for a few weeks, I’d have to agree with that description.
Death Machine is the band’s debut full-length after some self-released singles, and it is a massive, heavy, weighty, at times suffocating and unsettling record by any measure.
The band, featuring six members, including two female vocalists, although every member also contributes vocals, the end result gives the music a haunting, cultish, affect and while Demons Of Noon are treading in some familiar sounds, they manage to present an original mash-up of fuzzed-up, rumbling, hypnotic, distorted doom, but mixed with some Killing Joke style post-punk, as well as at times a Godlfesh-via-Ministry industrial vibe.
Death Machine’s opener, Echolalia gives a new definition to the term ‘slow burn’ as the nine-minute-plus opus takes its time, slowly unfolding from a faint, rumbling bass line, with hints of guitar feedback, to encompassing the aforementioned incantation-like vocals before dropping into a crushing, lurching, bass-heaving, stomper.
Crushing Sun (great song title) released as a single, is an enormous, hypnotic track with a pounding riff, that leaves the listener feeling grimy. The repetition and march of the rhythm give the song a dirty trance-like feel that is nicely complemented by some harmonizing vocals from Aria Jones and Tamsyn Matchett.
Coward, released as the second single, is a driving, distorted charger that reveals the Ministry-meets-Killing Joke vibe I alluded to, yet complimented by more of the ethereal floaty vocals. Succession has a crushing main riff and features a nice swing from the rhythm section as well as what sounds like at least three of the six members locked into what sounds like a chant, or incantation, as the song builds to some pretty epic, rumbling riffery that somehow unfolds into an almost black metal-tinged vocal attack on the way out.
the band’s multi-vocalist approach leaves the listener in a tripped-out and riff-induced hypnotic state…
Bad Men, also released as a single, is a pretty epic trippy, heavy, yet melodic track that encompasses and distills all the Demons Of Noon have displayed thus far into one of the more accessible tracks on the album and I can see why the band released it as a single. Sphere Of Peace, meanwhile, is another massive, lumbering, riff-fest, interspersed with some ethereal, mellow passages, as the band’s multi-vocalist approach leaves the listener in a tripped-out and riff-induced hypnotic state.
Death Machine winds its way to its conclusion, first with Demons Of Shade, as the sonic duality of the crushing riffage paired with the melodious, female vocals is put once again on vivid display, while closer Torched And Burned winds the proceedings up nicely as the listener gets all the riffing, rumbling bass, and vocal dynamics the band have unveiled thus far into one last crushing sonic statement.
Demons Of Noon are certainly an interesting band with a unique approach to the doom and sludge genre they seem to be affiliated with. Certainly, there is more of a filthy, industrial vibe, but the multi-vocalist approach, specifically the harmonizing between the two female singers, most certainly separates them from most of their lumbering brethren. Death Machine, while at times feeling somewhat repetitive, as well as exhausting, is a pretty killer, unique, interesting sonic experience within what can sometimes feel like an aurally limiting genre.
Label: Evil Feast Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
