Album Review: The Drowning – The Radiant Dark (Transcending Obscurity Records)

The Drowning from the UK pay tribute to the death/doom pioneers of the style but they add their own dynamics to the affair, balancing poignancy with pummelling aggression. Rarely has this been pulled off without disrupting the mood but The Drowning are surprisingly adept at it. It’s as if the pent up emotions are being channelled after an eloquent, meaningful expression.

The Radiant Dark will be released on November 8th 2019 via Transcending Obscurity Records.

An unearthly intro (Alpha Orionis) isn’t sufficient preparation for the hellishness of The Drowning’s death/doom assault. A violent and ugly assault that takes place over 7 tracks and 55+ minutes.

The slow crawling riffs of The Triumph of the Wolf in Death combined with the various jabs of percussion and phlegm-covered growls of the vocals are startling stuff. Creating the kind of impact that only masters of death and doom could manage.

When the tempo does get upped near the end of the near 10-minute track, it freshens things up nicely. Especially as these moments are few and far between, the maggot-ridden decay being the direction The Drowning tend to stick too.

Prometheus Blinded, In Cold Earth, All That We Need of Hell… are a set of monstrous tracks. Each delivering a nasty and infection-ridden style of metal, the itchy kind that you just get so desperate to scratch and claw at. Even if it means drawing blood.

Of course, as hard hitting and intense as this can be, that brings with it some negatives. For starters, it’s just so constantly deeply dark meaning the longer it goes on; the tougher it becomes to focus on. Simply put, you might find your mind wandering.

A shame because the album’s latter sprawling effort of I Carve the Heart from the Universe brings a really strong slab of heavy doom that mixes a bit of mellow melody in too. A welcome break from the constant aural assault. Getting this far though might be too tough a task for many but it is worth it.

Especially as Blood Marks My Grave is the most melodic of all, a wonderful showcase of poignant power.

The Drowning – The Radiant Dark Full Track Listing:

1. Alpha Orionis
2. The Triumph of the Wolf in Death
3. Prometheus Blinded
4. In Cold Earth
5. All That We Need of Hell
6. Harrowed Path
7. I Carve the Heart From the Universe
8. Blood Marks My Grave

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Transcending Obscurity Records