BLOODIEST Descent - 2011 US CD, extremely heavy debut album from Chicago Metallers
Format: CD Condition: New Year of Release: 2011 Cat. No.: 7671512 Label: Relapse
Bloodiest are making me feel depressed. I think it’s the fact I’ve wasted the last 2 days doing absolutely nothing and now listening to this, it feels a bit like staring into the abyss.
There’s nothing remotely cheerful about 'Descent' yet, it’s not something created by a bunch of haircuts who think the pain of being dumped is real and that we need to hear about it.
Bloodiest are that acidic taste in your mouth; they’re that dry nausea you feel after a particularly harrowing moment of self-realisation. The 11-minute epic ‘Dead Inside’ is just that ? melancholy throughout; it’s the sound of a post-rock band churning up some of the darkest sounds you’ve ever heard and then asking a terminally depressed and stricken man to ramble through his thoughts and feelings just after he’s been diagnosed with some disorder. The last 3 minutes are just drums and piano, yet it sounds like the final countdown to some apocalyptic event. Shit, it could soundtrack a really poignant moment in any unskippable cut scene from the latest first-person shooter.
‘Fallen’ is the sound of a maniacal preacher calling to arms his brethren as they begin the ceremony involving a giant wooden man and an unfortunate policeman. The marching percussion, coupled with the single bass note humming and desolate guitar strums are truly chilling.
‘Coh’ is 3 minutes of haunting, melodic drone featuring a hushed moan like a dying gasp that is deeply unsettling, backed only by solitary guitar twangs. ‘Pastures’ is a brooding, ethereal wash of discordant piano and slovenly drumming, whilst the vocals signify the end of days. ‘Slave Rule’ makes me wonder if there will ever be good days again; but in the world of Bloodiest, there are no good days ? just the dark, the all encompassing dark.
