LUMBAR
"The First and Last Days of Unwelcome"
Label: Southern Lord
Release: 11 November 2013
One of the year's most unexpected Doom Metal albums is also now one of 2013's most anticipated, as the debut LP from Pacific Northwestern trio LUMBAR is being prepared for arrival.
While this brutalising slow-motion trio boasts what some are referring to as “supergroup” status — containing members Aaron Edge (Himsa, Iamthethorn, Roareth, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth), Mike Scheidt (YOB) and Tad Doyle (Tad, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth) — LUMBAR was formed by these longtime friends for much more than simply creating riffs. The brainchild of Aaron Edge, LUMBAR came together earlier this year when the well-known guitarist/drummer/graphic designer was unexpectedly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. What would be his final musical endeavor before waves of rapidly-spreading pain engulfed him and extended hospital stays became more than frequent, is now his most imperative.
On LUMBAR's debut album, The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome, Edge is joined by Mike Scheidt and Tad Doyle, the latter of whom also shares rank in Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth with Aaron, who helped bring this intense and important project to fruition. The musical result is as diverse and destructive as one may expect from such a lineup, with the varied influence from this trio of musicians coalescing into seven organic and tonally oppressive movements. Ethereal ghostly passages and spacious expanses of minimalistic disharmony come to an end in sonic obliteration through mesmerising and pulverizing, as an array of distinct vocal mantras echo from the heart of it all.
Southern Lord will release The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome on LP and digital formats in the UK/EU on November 11th, followed by a CD version direct from the band and a cassette version via Holy Mountain, with all of the band’s proceeds going to aid Edge’s medical expenses and treatments.
NOOTHGRUSH/COFFINS
Split-Album
Label: Southern Lord
Release: 11 November 2013
Southern Lord bring us a split album from two of the heaviest sludge bands that ever existed! Coffins from Tokyo, Japan churn out the filthiest, nastiest noise heard in a long long time, whilst Oakland, California's sludge pioneers Noothgrush return from the grave to teach us a lesson in joylessness. Featuring artwork by Josh Graham, this utterly oppressive slab of crushing doom shall be officially released on 12" via Southern Lord in the UK/EU on 11 November. This is a split of frankly extraordinary calibre and superlative weight, two heavyweights of the doom world colliding with enormous results.
Noothgrush return with their first studio recording since 1998, and the disdain, the disgust… It hasn’t faded one bit. Their gruesome sludge is rooted in the real life, in the misery, hatred and despair of humanity – there are no traces of fantasy or psychedelic moments of horror movie nostalgia in this amoral cut of agonising doom. With Dino Somesse, the man who personified anguish in 90’s crust sludge golden calves Dystopia, joining the band on vocals, this is a rare ignition of the scum-ridden sludge sound which America haemorrhaged during the last decade of the millennium. Noothgrush's side of the split opens with crawling, pained riffs punctuated with sparse percussion, and then the weight of the world comes down. Rasping vocals, disturbing samples, and songs which grab you by the throat and open your eyes to mad-made hell.
Coffins, the Japanese masters of rockin’ death doom, have (once again) succeeded in making exactly the kind of music you would feel comfortable having as your soundtrack whilst riding a Harley Davidson into hell like you own the place. Their hammer comes down heavier than ever on these two tracks, wielding monstrous groove with downright foul tactics. Guttural is an understatement – what comes out of the mouth of vocalist Uchino is a tar-thick gargle with the stench of death, laying to waste whatever living creatures inhale it. Plants will wither, animals scurry, and metal fans… will bang their heads! Channelling the old school death metal filth of Autopsy with an altogether more rollicking lurch, this is horrific doom metal to rage to.
