MMXIX

Holy Death have done a lot in a short space of time, starting just 2 years ago with MMXIX. Given the release name, the make-up of this 4-tracker, and the quality of sound achieved here, I do wonder whether the Las Vegas trio might have just popped an “official” sticker on their demo, but I guess I’ve also heard lazier and worse-produced albums too. Constituted of 2 instrumentals and 2 longer songs, the focus rests on doom for this debut outing, sort of gliding over into sludge and even drone at times as a result of the low-end being so powerful and no one pushing the pace.

That thick guitar tone kind of mingles with the bass to produce a warm and syrupy yet very simple arrangement, which additions of lead guitar help transform into a fuller spectrum when oozing out hazily from time to time. Using feedback as a tool to shift into the first groove of the title track works pretty well, though Holy Death actually pump out a few straightforward riffs that sound almost like Trouble in contrast to the grimmer efforts that could be inspired by rough doom death like Winter. This imbalance occurs with the jam-like solos too, which I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear from a late ‘90s Cathedral album. Thus, even ‘Guillotine Baptism’, which seems the best-organized track, wavers a bit in mood and effect, not to mention the discrepancy when ‘Dream Reaper’ afterwards opens like a lost part of ‘Planet Caravan’ and then segues randomly into a Moss demo. At this point, I just scratch my head.

Put it down to inexperience in the studio or uncertainty about where to go on their first release, but however you spin it Holy Death left an ambivalent impression with MMXIX, one that would thankfully improve pretty fast. Give this a listen if you want to know how to come across stoned and incoherent.