I've been listening to my fair share of doom metal of late dominated by the mighty Cathedral and Candlemass, so when I received two new doom related releases from Transcending Obscurity Records I thought I'd best check them out. Starting with At This Great Depth the second release by atmospheric doom/sludge metal group Soothsayer. Soothsayer are based in Cork, Ireland and the band has been together for a few years now. Their prior release The Soothsayer was a lengthy three track EP and this one also has more to do with duration than the number of tracks, as whilst just the two songs make an appearance on At This Great Depth together they are clocking in at just over twenty four minutes. The first of which "Umpire" begins in a slow and haunting fashion taking you to the darkest depths, and when the death/blackened vocals finally appear it comes with Soothsayer's metal barrage and those rapid blasting drums and frantic riffs, "Umpire" goes through multiple changes much like the following "Of Locusts and Moths" which is a mix of relative calmness, mid paced and frantic intensity. Whilst I'm more so in the clean vocal camp when it comes to doom metal At This Great Depth is one for fans of the sort of atmospheric doom where the darkness in the music is matched by the evilness of those vocals.
Track Listing
1. Umpire
2. Of Locusts and Moths