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COSMIC REAPER “Bleed The Wicked, Drown The Damned”
COSMIC REAPER “Bleed The Wicked, Drown The Damned”
By Dr. Abner Mality
This North Carolina doom coven starts off on the right foot with a cool name. That’s a great monicker for a doleful purveyor of oozing riffology. But how actually is the band itself?
They are very much in the tradition of the awesome WINDHAND, creating haunting mega-heavy sludge tunes that slither along with hypnotic intent. I couldn’t say they are on the level of WINDHAND, but they understand the style and come up with some mournful sludge emanations of their own, heard nowhere better than the first two tracks, “Hammer” and “Bloodfeather”, which will tickle the fancy of any fan of Southern doom. I find it amusing that the press sheet talks about BLACK SABBATH, SOUNDGARDEN and SAINT VITUS yet they pointedly ignore the most obvious elephant in the room: WINDHAND.
Singer/guitarist Thad Collis tries his best to sing with the sort of spooky monotone that Dorthea Cottrell perfected so well on WINDHAND’s albums. Unfortunately, he doesn’t come close and his often flat vocal stylings drop the power of COSMIC REAPER down a notch. He knows what he’s after but doesn’t really get there. But although that hurts the band, it doesn’t dismantle them, as there’s plenty of powerful riffing throughout. “Dwelling” is a kind of ringer that favors a more restrained and cleaner sound and serves as a nice break in the action. The grunge feel becomes paramount on “Perfect Organism”, with a strong ALICE IN CHAINS/SOUNDGARDEN sort of mopey plod that’s not bad. The album ends with more typical doom in “Bones” and “Waiting For the Gallows”.
Lots of dark sludge and trudge from COSMIC REAPER, but an improvement in the lead vocal department would be helpful to get them to the next level.
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