Keep Close the Watchfires

Formed in 2011, Gloaming was initially a solo project of J.C. (the same gent that brought us the delightfully absorbing Coma Void project). After a period of inactivity, J.C. resurrected the band as a four piece, which was originally based in Maryland. Now featuring members from Finland, Australia, South Korea and the United States, primitive and atonal doomy death metal is the order of the day and Keep Close the Watchfires, the band’s debut which dropped in April of 2015, is a heavy and crushing lesson in old school death metal done right.

Keep Close the Watchfires features seven tracks over the course of fifty-one skull crushing minutes The music steamrolls along, crushing everything under it’s massive heaviness. Most of the riffs are dripping in slow-paced sludge; never aiming for anything faster than a petulant crawl. Heavily inspired by the likes of Cianide and Autospy, Gloaming’s main focus is on pummeling, low-end riffage with touches of unsettling melodies rearing their ugly heads every so often. This album is full of great riffs, from the dredging, downtempo opener “The Nightmare of Braddock Heights” to the militant, near galloping crunch that closes out “Dwayyo” there isn’t a single second where the guitars aren’t prominently featured in the foreground (and rightly so). Did the massive riffs get mentioned yet? Just listen to the catchy, down-tempo plodding on “Black Aggie” or the Sabbathian mastery of “Ilchester” or any damn riff on the album to get an idea of just how hard this hits. The occasional lead guitar breaks firmly enhance the dreary sound, from the trebly noodling that begins “Goat-Man” to the the watery, ethereal lines during “Ilchester”.

The rest of the instrumentation is tailor-made to coexist with the crushing, crawling guitars. The drums, performed by A.H., are never overtly fancy or overly technical, but they get the job done with a plodding caveman crawl, with bursts of rollicking double bass pushing through. The entire album is very bass heavy and dense, thanks in no small part to the thundering lines creeping along the back end, courtesy of R.B.. That’s not to say the Keep Close the Watchfires is a snoozefest, as it’s the opposite; just don’t expect high speed blasting. Illusions Dead front man J.K. brings some slathering, primal sounds that lie somewhere between screams and growls to serve as vocals, adding a healthy dose of abject depravity to the mix.

Gloaming focuses on devastating, primordial death metal that is drenched in doom, muck and mire. There are no frills and no modern diversions; just pure, unadulterated death metal. The angular, slow paced riffs dominate the sound here, delivering a crushing sound that sounds like it was dredged up from the bottom of some festering, long forgotten mire. Surely, Keep Close the Watchfires is an homage to the masters of doom-laden death metal, but the band’s mastery of all things stripped down and primal may just overthrow the sound of the stalwarts they were emulating. Indeed, any fans of Autopsy, Cianide or Triptykon should find plenty to dig into here: just be prepared to be knocked flat on your ass by riff after monstrous riff.

Written for The Metal Observer.

To be completely honest, this review should begin and end with the statement: "this album fucking rules". The best descriptor for Keep Close the Watchfires is "rules". Maybe because there's a certain amount of simplicity in the phrase, "it rules" that makes it so fitting, or maybe it's because saying something like "it crushes" or "it slays" just doesn't seem appropriate for the type of old school death metal Gloaming plays. What makes Gloaming a bit of a different beast than most "OSDM" project is that they are more concerned with the atmosphere of brutality and heaviness than the idea of it. It's not just a gimmick, embracing some style of logo and slapping some Death riff worship together. Keep Close the Watchfires is incredibly heavy, filled with lumbering caveman riffs that either a). punch you in the balls or b). punch you in the face. There's very little variation as a whole, but everything it does, it does well and it does in a very straightforward and primitive manner.

It seems that J.C went into creating this album with a very singular idea - to write about little known or completely unknown stories and accompany them with the sludgiest, doomiest riffs he could think of - and even if the idea came about through the collaboration itself, there's not a moment where Keep Close the Watchfires doesn't sound completely organic, flowing, and purposeful. The opener, "Nightmare of Braddock Heights" was the "single" released first, and it's actually a fairly good representation of the album - with its atonal, dreary riffs plodding slowly, and a hollow lead guitar screaming pseudo solos and accents over the trudging beasts like some sort of zombified version of Jesu. "Goat-Man" starts off with an absolutely massive riff, with a lead guitar that sounds like it's coming from out of the caves deep in the woods - a strange howling beneath the winds and rumbles of the deep dreadful forests. When it speeds up, it really gives a sense of urgency, that something is chasing you through the woods. This song also has some fantastic imagery, take this little gem:

"Feasting below a rusted bridge
Slumbering in musty caves
Nourished by the darkness
Again will come the terror
Visions of a blood-soaked axe
Wielded by clawed, inhuman hands
Curved horns back-lit by the moon"

Yeah, it's schlock, pure pulp matter - but it's really well done pulp matter, and that's just awesome to see. I don't need all of my music to have manifestos and philosophy, or micro-tones and dissonance. Sometimes you want riffs that sound like tank treads moving through and lyrics about goat-headed creatures that kill horny teens who try to get it on at Lovers' Lane. That's pure catharsis.

The following track (I promise I'm not doing a play by play) is one of my favorites. "The Curse of the Frozen Witch" sounds like Bolt Thrower crossed with Winter - it's both doom-y, crushing, and painfully slow, while simultaneously shifting back into a galloping headbanger's riff feast. The accents of tremolos and double kicks are just really well placed and turn an otherwise good song into a great one. I could talk about the killer solos in "Black Aggie" and talk about how that song has my favorite main riff on the album, or the shuffling riffs of the instrumental "The Great Dismal Swamp" that result in a catchy yet beastly song (again, like Jesu on 'roids - or much like J.C's other great project Coma Void). But, really, all you need to know is that the closer, "Dwayyo", is face melting. If you can listen to that opening riff and not want to punch a hole in a wall, you're dead inside. It's a mudstomping, fist throwing song littered with incredibly heavy leads just draped over the impenetrable wall that is the never-ending kickass riffs like ballistae firing tremolo bolts toward the earth. The mid-paced thumping is pure Asphyx, and the last minute is pure candy. One unending riff building on itself over and over.

Ok, so we know the riffs are good - what about the rest? A.H's drumming is is sloppy, but not in a bad way - it's a little off kilter at times, but it adds to the organic lumbering beast-mode that is the album. It's mostly repetitive 4/4 time signature sort of stuff, but when there are accents like a kick triplet, or random splash/crash cymbals, or the occasional drum fill - it adds a lot to a song, offering a little variation in the wake of the riffs. R.B's bass is present in the mix, and much like the guitars, it's less about the technicality and more about the presence and delivery, and it's a thunderous lower end that gives a meaty weight to each note. What's really different about the record though is J.K's vocals - instead of the standard grunts/growls that accompany most death metal and especially the revitalized doom/death OSDM crowd - it's like a distant scream/growl. He sounds like one of the horrible creatures spoken of on the album - chasing the listener through unending trees and rock. The hollow vocal production makes it almost sound like a whisper - and that gives a unique and atmospheric effect to Keep Close the Watchfires.

Bottom line: this album is really good. I've listened to it again during the review and forgot how many good riffs there were - it's not the most original, and it's probably not going to blow your mind - but I don't think that was the point. I think it's just really damn good death metal for people who like really good death metal. If you like your riffs slow, your music crushing, and your lyrics all dolled up in occult dresses - you'll like this. Great debut, look forward to the next one.

P.S the extra 3% comes from the use of the grim and unknown tales and cryptoids.