Erosion

Process of Guilt's second album is a true display of raw power, and most importantly it shows that the band is starting to define their own sound. Taking a slightly less melodic approach, and choosing a more "funeral doom-esque" path, they no longer sound like any band I've listened to. Currently, they're somewhere between doom/death and funeral doom.

Like the previous album, there are calm parts, where Hugo sings in a clean voice (almost feels like he's speaking), and then there are the heavy parts, where he uses some excellent and powerful growls, in the midst of heavily distorted guitars. Drumming is great and slow, as it would be expected from this sort of record, and it goes really well with the bass lines, much more noticeable during the calm parts.

Although the clean/calm parts are still present, they're less frequent, but they're very well placed. They're located between long, slow and powerful riff barrages, that made me feel in the middle of some kind of twisted and weird natural catastrophe, with earthquakes, tsunamis and tornados. I wouldn't call it apocalypse, but something that would definitely "erode" the Earth's surface. It really pleases me to see a band that has it's roots in genres that are usually evil, macabre and depressing, doing something completely different from what could be expected.

About the songs, I really have to highlight "Dust (Circle Part I)", as it is the single most awesome album opener ever. It's the perfect introduction to the destruction that will ensue. Other than that, it doesn't feel right to break them down into separate songs, because they work together really well, they feel like a single song. Don't get me wrong, it's not repetitive and the tracks don't sound the same, the transition between the songs simply isn't very noticeable unless you're really paying attention.

Still, there is a small problem with this album... It's a little short. It's only 50-60min long, and such a great album deserved another song. This, of course, is a very small issue, and most people might even ignore it, but I felt I had to have some sort of problem with it, or it would be another 100% score and I might be considered a "fanboy" for that.

That being said, this is definitely worth the time and the money, I'd even be willing to pay more for it (which is why I bought the T-shirt with it). Check out their MySpace, or the album itself, if you can.