EP Review: The Sorrow Of Being Immaculate – Church Music for Satanists (Self Released)

British doom/sludge act The Sorrow of Being Immaculate will unveil their debut offering, ‘Church Music for Satanists’, on February 9th, 2024.

The Sorrow of Being Immaculate Comments:

During a trip to North Wales Church Music for Satanists EP was written in a rented caravan in early Autumn 2023. Those long nights in the dank Welsh countryside and the fear of nefarious local folklore spirits Old Magw the Witch & The Gwyllion seeped into these songs giving them an atmospheric doom.

Are you sitting comfortably? You won’t be once you let this record seep into your brain matter. Which it will, no matter how hard you try to fight it. The Sorrow of Being Immaculate’s dark doominess gets under the skin and before you know it, you’re submerged in fuzz.

It really doesn’t get much more disconcerting than the abject creepiness of the title track, but that should be no words of comfort for anyone planning to listen on. The scene has been set, and things get a hell of a lot more intense with droning distortion of 360 Degree Cross. Before some welcome cleaner guitar tones arrive on Behemoth of Hallucinations, even though they are shrouded in abject misery. Don’t relax too much though as this track transforms into something horrifyingly distorted.

As you can no doubt tell, Church Music for Satanists is a unique sounding record and it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste. Even fans of doom and sludge may struggle with the lethargic style that encapsulates The Sorrow of Being Immaculate.

If you do make it as far as Return of the Puritan and My Temporary Heartbeat, you’ll first find a cinematic intermission that feels so oppressive. Then, you’ll find devilry in all its drone-inspired form. The guitar howls and the atmosphere gets thicker and thicker. By time it finally ends, the mind has been well and truly lost to the darkness.

So much so, that even two ‘Industro mixes’ of two different tracks can’t save you now. Although neither are necessary listening, the variations in sound are fascinating, but most will have had their fill. Yet, there’s something so compelling about Church Music for Satanists and the urge to hear it again and again is strong.

The Sorrow of Being Immaculate – Church Music for Satanists Track Listing:

1. Church Music for Satanists
2. 360 Degree Cross
3. Behemoth of Hallucinations
4. Return of the Puritan
5. My Temporary Heartbeat
6. Church Music for Satanists (Industro mix)
7. 360 Degrees Cross (Industro mix)

Links

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