Release Date: October 27th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Ambergris - Tracklisting
1.Grey Amber 10:32
2.Spoon Cooker 06:27
3.Lost To The Gyre 14:13
4.Getting Rich Off Whale Vomit (live) 10:30
Member
Joe Bernard - Guitar(s)
Rob Cinami - Drums.
Review
Ambergris is an instrumental Doom/Stoner Metal duo who bring a variety of different sounds from the underground scene with a multitude of different influences ranging from Pelican, Monolord, Russian Circles. High On Fire and Black Sabbath. Each of the four tracks that makes up their spellbinding debut album have a different theme and sound to each other as Ambergris merge dark progressive grooves with an unforgiving Post-Metal delivery.
There’s a lot of sonic distortion within their music with everything having a stripped back quality which you can hear from the opening track Grey Amber. The music is painfully slow in places but soon picks up speed when Ambergris have their creative building blocks in place to play music that has an eerie Doom & Gloom energy within the psychedelic tones that soon appear. You could say there is almost GOTHIC aesthetic building up from the impressive drumming from Rob Cinami with Joe Bernard on Guitars laying down a heavy monolithic Psych Stoner Metal charge into the mix. The song does become a lot more crazed and frenzied with epic sludgy melodies closing the track to a mighty impressive distorted finish.
Second track Spoon Checker is a Psychedelic Metal number with elements of Trance and Tribal Warfare appearing from time-to-time which fans of MONOLORD and HIGH ON FIRE will surely get a kick out of. The whole mood is destructive and stripped back yet again which allows Ambergris to play a different style of music compared to the opening track. The GOTHIC rhythms of Grey Amber are long gone and have been replaced by a dominant Sludge/Stoner Metal passage which screams AMPLIFIER heaviness from every corner. The track is also cautiously slow-to-mid pace at first but once Ambergris find a heavier and aggressive rhythm then there’s no stopping them in playing some of the heaviest and standout grooves on the whole album.
The third track Lost To The Gyre has a more oppressive and downbeat sound with Ambergris focusing upon perhaps a Blackened Doom and NOLA destructive attitude. The rhythms are muscular with the band biding their time before unleashing a torrent of distorted and violent instrumental passages. Distortion is key here with a surreal Post-Metal theme holding everything together. Once more Ambergis take their time delving into standard riff-centric territory but this is well worth the wait as you’re treated to some epic LOW & SLOW riff driven worship that would make the DOOM GODS jealous with envy. The track runs for over fourteen minutes but there’s more than enough variety to keep everyone’s focus and attention right through the very end.
The final track Getting Rich Off Whale Vomit is a live track and sees Ambergris having a similar energy playing live on stage. The mood is more PUNK ROCK based with Ambergris playing with a real stripped down performance throughout. The track itself is perhaps the catchiest and riff-driven on the whole album despite the surreal song title, this is another standout track with Ambergris ticking all the right boxes within the Doom/Stoner Metal rulebook in delivering superbly executed grooves of the highest order.
Ambergris debut album is not the best produced or recorded but it does allow the band the perfect opportunity to create some highly original sounds of their own making that should gain a loyal following within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal community.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
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