Shizumunamari - An Encouragement Of Decadence
Good doom is difficult to find anymore, simply because of the trend toward cookie-monster vocals and Black Sabbath mimicry. Still, there are bands who deliver innovative, pulsating, opaque, colossal doom – full of heavyweight sonic modulation. They’re just hard to come by.
Hypnochron
Here are two bands worth listening to: Hypnochron and Shizumunamari.
Hypnochron - "Sigma Draconis"
Stoner/doom outfit Hypnochron released “Sigma Draconis” on January 31. The track is from the band’s forthcoming album, slated to drop in “a couple months.”
Based in Chicago, the three-piece band’s outlook may be summed up as “smoke weed, hail Satan.” An instrumental band, Hypnochron’s previous releases include the LP, Herbs For the Alter, and 2015’s single, “Aphasia.”
There’s not much gen available on the band, such as who’s in Hypnochron, but according to their Bandcamp page, “Life gets in the way sometimes, after a few births and some surgeries, we are back to pummel your ear drums with some heavy fucking doom.”
“Sigma Draconis” is a K-type star located in the constellation of Draco, which is 18.8 light-years from our Sun.
“Sigma Draconis” opens on a glossy operatic voice that sounds like it’s from a 1930’s recording. After an ominous announcement, the song flows into thick grinding riffs riding battering drums and brightly shimmering cymbal crashes. Vaguely reminiscent of Tool, only more visceral and darker, the rumbling projections of the guitars exude harsh-textured energy.
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Vaguely reminiscent of Tool, only more visceral and darker, the rumbling projections of the guitars exude harsh-textured energy.
Shizumunamari – An Encouragement of Decadence
Japan’s two-piece doom band Shizumunamari released their album An Encouragement of Decadence in March 2019.
Describing the band as “new wave Japanese doom metal,” Shizumunamari utilizes only bass guitar and drum, i.e. no guitars. The result is cap-a-pie pulverizing tones, as if vomited from the bottom of the Mariana Trench – monstrously reverberating sound rife with black dread and dolorous resonance.
The album encompasses eight tracks, the best of which are “After Taste,” opening on a ringing high-hat leading to cavernously bellyaching, smearing intonations from the bass. Fortunately, the drummer delivers muscular percussive strokes, filling in the harmonic gaps with Jovian clots of hammering textures.
The title track groans with thunderous growling surfaces, as the drums crunch with ferocious power, pounding out dense thumping commentaries. “Give Me Darkness” exudes flavors of high-octane punk dynamics merged with outrageous tones in the grip of full winter.
