Bereft "Leichenhaus"

Here is another great debut album for the year, Bereft's "Leichenhaus". LA's Bereft is a sludge/doom band that has in its formation Sacha Dunable of Intronaut and Graviton, Derek Donley of National Sunday Law and Graviton, Charles Elliott of Abysmal Dawn and ex-The Faceless vocalist Derek Rydquist. Such an eclectic formation could only result in something very interesting. But if even after seeing where these guys come from, if you're still skeptical but you love some good sludgy doom, trust me... give it a listen. Believe me, this is one dark and bleak journey you want in. Bereft is all about dark, grieve-full, depressing doom. Just for curiosity, one thing that came into my mind immediately as i saw this bands name and artwork was Esoteric's "Epistemological Despondency". Why? It features one track called "Bereft" and the artwork is also in black and white. But that's just one of my theories. “Leichenhaus” is a conceptual album thematically revolving around a waiting mortuary and one thing that stands out of this record is the whole instruments work. For example, the guitars, besides having that classic doom tone that i love, they can be as crushing heavy as they can also deliver some mourning melodies, or even when they blend those two tones together, the balance is expertly done. The drum is pounding heavy and it blends perfectly with the bass in the background although there are some parts where the bass stands out and shakes the soil under our feet with those stout chords. The voice is deep and dark as as open grave, it fits perfectly in this whole orchestra of gloom. Although their sound sounds familiar or might give you that dejá-heard impression, the songs are good enough to make this album stand out in the ocean of releases of this year. "Leichenhaus" is in fact and outstanding debut for this band from whom, judging by this sample, i hope to hear many more. Highly Recommended. For fans of Aldebaran, Asunder. You can buy it here. Follow'em here.

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