Release Date: October 06th 2023. Record Label: Lay Bare Recordings and King Of The Monsters Records. Formats: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl
Wound - Tracklisting
1.Dredge 07:35
2.In Absentia 07:13
3.Corsican Leather 06:49
4.Canyonlands 09:05
5.Neanderskull 07:50
Members
Carson Russell - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Brandon Walker - Drums, Vocals
Chad Remains - Electric Guitar, Amplifiers, Vocals
Review
Wound is the new album from Blackened Doom/Sludge Riff Destroyers Ghorot and it offers a nihilistic wasteland of Doomed Out Sludge Metal thuggery where the band excel delivering Psychedelic Grooves with a menacing brutal vocal style. There’s a twinge of slight Stoner Metal aggression even if on the more extreme side of the genre. The whole album marches to the sound of its own twisted and down-tuned heartbeat.
There’s some trippy Amplifier sound effects spliced throughout the album with a dark unnerving Industrial feeling heard from the very start with the excellent opening track Dredge merging a slightly distinctive NOLA based groove. Creaking sludgy guitars manifest into more substantial moments of nightmarish extended grooves and classic guitar solos that perhaps allows Ghorot to be more inspired by bands such as DOWN and EYEHATEGOD.
All the tracks have an air of Progressive confidence with nearly all of the tracks running over the seven minute mark which allows Ghorot to play their intense music at seismic volumes. Ghorot becomes more aggressive and expertly confident on the next couple tracks of In Absentia and Corsican Leather where the mood conveys one of freakish and sludgy industrial beats with perhaps the dirtiest and riffiest jams being played on these tracks alone. The lyrics also take a more drastic turn with them becoming more satanically charged which is perhaps also down to all members participating with vocal duties at various stages of the album.
Ghorot find the time to experiment with Post-Metal aesthetics on the more quieter and self-reflecting moments of the album but still retain it’s Blackened Metal nature that builds upto some real proper “Head-banging” moments which reminded me of ISIS (The Band) and early-era Mastodon.
The final two tracks of Canyonlands and Neanderskull is where the real magic happens with Ghorot exploring their bleak creative vision even further. The flow of the album manifests into a torrent of nasty down-tuned Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves with that abrasive Blackened Doom Metal sound running amok with the sublime vocals leaving a wave of destruction along the way even when the mood becomes quite melodic which I didn’t expect.
Wound is a statement of brutal intent where the band have built upon from their acclaimed debut album both musically and creatively speaking. This is a mature and sometimes more violent offering where Ghorot are masters of their own domain.
Wound is perhaps the album you need to own right now if you dig your Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal with an emotionally charged Blackened Metal approach.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Plug Music Agency for the promo.
Wound is available to buy now on DD/CD/Cassette from Ghorot. Vinyl is available from Lay Bare Recordings and King Of The Monsters Records.
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