Release Date: February 28th 2025. Record Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Buena Muerte - Track Listing:
1.Drugged Wizard Walks By
2.Buena Muerte†
3.Fortunato's Fortune (interlude)
4.Last Weed on Earth
5.Enki's Return
Review
Chilean Doom/Stoner Metallers Ocultum return with their third full length album Buena Muerte and have teamed up with the mighty behemoth record label Heavy Psych Sounds for this record. Nothing much else has changed for Ocultum with the band providing 1970’s inspired Proto-Metal carnage with a heavy Psychedelic and lysergic reliance of modern day thought provoking grooves. The music has a dizzying and dazzling array of down-tuned FUZZY sounds that have a nightmarish quality to them.
This vision is brutally realized within the excellent opening track Drugged Wizard Walks By which is purely instrumental with a seedy underbelly of classic sounding Sludge, Doom and Stone Metal passages with influences from Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus and BONGZILLA.
The lyrics and vocals are inspired by the nihilistic tones of EYEHATEGOD and Church Of Misery which dominate the musical landscape from the second track Buena Muerte†. The mood is completely chaotic and destructive with Ocultum unleashing “HELL ON EARTH” with their frenzied and crazed fast-paced guitars which have a manic personality to them.
There’s a sense of warped melody to the opening two tracks despite the SATANIC nature of them all which gives Ocultum such an unpredictable nature. The third track Fortunato's Fortune (interlude) is purely an exercise of instrumental Doom Metal but the band achieve a lot within the short running time as they add moments of nightmarish Drone textures and subtle OCCULT based imagery within their music.
The final two tracks of Last Weed On Earth and Enki’s Return is perhaps the most devious, sinister, heaviest and action parts of the album with Ocultum demonstrating a level of AMPLIFIER DISTORTED heaviness that the likes of Electric Wizard and SUNN 0))) would be proud to call their own. Subtle flashes of crazed Doom/Stoner Metal guitars feels like they’re being played with actual chainsaws and I mean that as a huge compliment.
Last Weed On Earth lasts for over eleven minutes and is the most demented track contained on the album where anything goes especially with the vocals. Perhaps one of the meanest STONER based tracks I’ve had the pleasure to listen to this year. With subtle flashes of Psych Metal or THC inspired Heavy Metal, Ocultum aims high for this song and delivers the goods throughout.
Enki’s Return is another track that runs for over eleven minutes and has a looser and faster style of music being delivered from all angles. The vocals move slightly over to the “EXTREME” side of Doom/Sludge Metal but the first rate use of SONIC and SPACED OUT themes gives Ocultum another wicked way of entertaining the WEEDIAN masses with.
Ocultum have called upon MONOLORD’s very own Esben Willems to master the album at his famed Studio Berserk residence and he provides a murky backdrop for Occultum to rule their own fucked up SATANIC based domain. Buena Muerte is an epic slice of Occult based Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that isn’t afraid to scare the HELL OUT OF YOU and leave you begging for more punishment.
Ocultum have upped their game for this release and offer their most definitive and original record to date.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.
Buena Muerte will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from Friday 28th February 2025.
