Graveyard Abyss

Of all metal subgenres, I can quite comfortably say that sludge is one of the toughest pills to swallow for me. I hardly ever get what it’s on about and seem to be getting lost in pointless noise every time I try to give the style a chance. And I’m well aware that this is a bias I have, but it is how my honest experience of the genre apart from a few exceptional names. So when I heard “sludge” among the genres that “A Feast For Lampreys” delivers, I wasn’t sure how much I could get into it. Thankfully though, it isn’t only sludge, but a mixed bag bringing in black metal and melodic elements as well. “Graveyard Abyss” is in fact a coherent piece of music that makes sense to me, and is worth listening to.

This is the project of Alex Newton, vocalist and guitarist of Dzo’nga, a folk black metal band that I’ve come to really enjoy. And the black metal influence I heard there, actually comes through more so than the sludge in this project as well, making it a decent mix of joyous noise mush that works quite well. It’s mainly the drums that “fix” what I usually dislike about both genres, which is the low-fi production. While dirty or unprocessed sounds are by no means a bad thing on their own and even play an important role in the expressive value especially when it comes to these genres, I do feel that the music still needs to be intelligible. And many artists take the pitfall of going too far on the low production, and compromising their sonic integrity. But this guy manages to surf the edge nicely. And I say it’s the drums that keep the music coherent because, despite the production, they are very precise in playing style and display some pretty dynamic rhythms and kick patterns at fast tempos which prevent monotony and give a clear structure to the sound.

On top of that however, the murky noises are free to reign supreme. The guitar parts especially, are constantly droning on overdriven chords, making the sound really harsh and a bit too monotonous if you focus on them too much. The bass also sounds like it’s been directly pulled out of the dirt before the recording. I do however like that the bass parts get more intricate and technical, straying away from the riffage in a slight tech-death like manner at times, which once again brings a bit more clarity and dynamic to the music. And there are some guitar leads sprinkled here and there to mix it up a bit as well. So the instrumental backbone is a mixed bag of rhythmic clarity and murky production, attempting to make a “best of both worlds” scenario as far as I can tell, and succeeding remarkably with it.

However, the catch with “Graveyard Abyss” is not solely in the composition, but also in the atmosphere. As mentioned previously, that’s what I think the purpose of low-fi production should be, expressive value, not just dirty sound for dirty sound’s sake. And Alex definitely understands that. Some songs open up with echoing sound effects and guitar chords or bass, building tension before the drums and full soundscape actually hits (see the bass intro on “Here She Lies”). And there’s a decent use of keyboards and sampling which I actually believe is the best asset to this album, from the piano solo on “Secrets and Slime Eels” to the string effects, organ and various alien-ish modulated sounds that occur here and there. Essentially, the album ends up creating a murky, underwater kind of atmosphere, with everything sounding as if its echoing through the depths of the ocean rather than hitting you directly. The artwork and lyrical imagery also builds on that as he seems to have a strange affinity for odd, creepy and somewhat yuky sea creatures (see “Slime Eels” and “Of Urchins and Worms”). So if you sink into its vibe enough, you’ll feel like you live on the Flying Dutchman, and I’m not talking about the epic cursed pirate vibe, rather focusing on the sea creature infestation cephalopodic mollusc infestation that was going on there. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Davy Jones’ face had some participation in the recording of this album.

Vocally, it is quite monotonous. Alex performs a high black metal shriek which also gets the “murky underwater” treatment from the production sound. That on its own, although not my favourite vocal performance, is enough to make sense in the context of the album, fitting the sound and imagery nicely. However, a few songs also have female guest vocalists, which bring more of a human touch as well as adding some magic and mystery, reducing the sludgy vibe with some more extra clarity.

Overall, I can’t say this album is a favourite, but given that it’s based on genres that aren’t exactly down my alley, it is certainly above average and worth looking into. So who knows? For fans of the sludge, it could actually be a real gem. If you like creepy vibes and potentially disgusting imagery, then don’t wait on this, it’s certainly worth it.

Originally written for The Metal Observer.