V/A – Midnite Congregation: Verse II DD 2014
The Midnite Collective has put together a second compilation filled with awesome for you. The organisation has selected some amazing bands for this one, including the mighty Cough. That’s not the only gem on this one though. Here’s Midnite Congregation: Verse II.
Midnite Collective hails from Los Angeles and sets itself as goal to bring together the children of the night. That means music, but also other arts. As they put it on thier website: “And all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”
Opening up the record is Shroud Eater from Miami. Their Monolith is indeed a monolithic track of a singular quality. Slow and steady the rhythm drags onward, while vocalist and guitar player Janette Valentine roars over the music. The eerie, cold guitarplay creates an interesting contrast with the sweltering heat portrayed by the bass. The scorching sound of Shroud Eater is clearly a good start for this compilation.
The Haunting Green are ex-members of A Cold Dead Body, playing doom metal with drone and ambient influences. The Italians bring a haunting intro, with the mysterious chiming of bells. The intro with some wavering guitar parts lasts up to six minutes, where vocals are whispered over the tranquil sound. Harsher riffing emerges, leading up to a crescendo of foreboding and climactic sound that continually seems to climb and reach higher. Bells chime gain in warm tones when the song reaches the summit and then sinks away again after keeping the tension up for 10 minutes.
INVDRS from Salt Lake City, Utah, create a dirty, creeping sludge sound of blackened hardcore that will leave you gnashing your teeth. Their Into Your Grave is a harrowing trip of uncomfortable sounding screeches and drums. The low, grinding bass continuous to give the song a grim atmosphere, while the vocals are almost frightening in their raw and cold aggression. The pace swells a bit towards the end, but all in all it’s that slow creepy feeling that makes this such a strong track.
From there we trudge on with Ladybird and their noisy expression, titled Dim. The doom-playing beer lovers from Arizona are a harsh listen, almost violently unpleasant at times. Main inspiration for the three piece is beer and the green stuff, but I doubt either will make them sound more pleasant. Imagine the most drunk trip you were on and this is what it would sound like in your head. Crawling and uncanny, smearing the walls with vomit and other filth, the band leaves their mark.
More controlled and stable is the next track on the compilation, by Trapped Within Burning Machinery. These guys know how to sound grimy and fierce as well in their slow burning bass driven worship at the altar of doom. Their sound is like molten steel, slowly seeping down the mountain. The Moreno Valley band, California, uses grim vocals to add another layer of discomfort to their already earthy sound. This may be one of the most impressive songs on this record, if not for the closer.
The deep and dark tones of Fuck Up land like a sledgehammer, static bubbles from the speakers and dry drums announce the coming of Cough. Cold unholy barks are replacing what would be vocals in any other way. They sound far away, like being exhaled from under the earth, increasing the atmosphere of finality. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, these guys seem to have little to be happy about. Then the track slowly spins away in long, Kyuss like guitar parts, soaring over an imaginary desert.
It’s a great compilation, offering an atmosphere that is hard to miss out on. Check it out, while you can. It’s still up for free listening and name your price download from Bandcamp.
Label: Midnite Collective
Scribed by: Guido Segers
