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EARTHEN
Unrelenting

Self-released (2024)
Rating: 6/10

Five songs, 40 minutes of music – I had a feeling this new Texan act was going to be doomy in nature. This San Antonio-based trio supply a lazy style of doom where bass and guitar nonchalantly trudge to the equally lackadaisical vocals which waft over proceedings like a steam from black coffee.

Even with such chunky tracks as ‘Purgatory’ and the excellent ‘Submersion Of The World Underwater’, there is no hint of menace in spite of the latter’s thunderous segments where the drums come to the fore. ‘Suffer More’ revels in its own stoned ooze as Earthen resorts to a stark clanking, provided mostly by the bass which rattles like an old rusty chain.

There is no escaping the crushing weight of the dynamics here, as each lengthy cut robustly heaves and trickles. ‘Black Swordsman’ is equally syrupy if somewhat uneventful, and that’s the big issue with stuff of this ilk whereby longish tracks are produced. As evidenced on the gargantuan ‘Exhumed’ it’s more of a bland, sluggish event and it really tests by patience at times. However, there are a lot of people that dig such slow burning clumps of ash to the point of culminating in a vegetative state. Unfortunately, by the time the final chime finishes I’m left bored rather than in bliss.

Neil Arnold

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