A few years ago Desert Psychlist reviewed an album called "0=1" by Ukrainian alternative metal doomsters Dreadnought by the Pond and we remember getting VERY excited by the bands off-kilter and angular approach to their music. The same excitement we felt that day is again coursing through our brains only this time that excitement is being triggered not by an Eastern European outfit but one from our own British backyard, a band going by the name Troy The Band, a four piece from London, England consisting of Sean Durbin (bass); Sean Burn (guitars); Craig Newman (vocals) and Daniel England (drums). The band have just released their first full length album "Cataclysm" (Bonebag Records), an album with a sound that is as an amalgamation of off-centred stoner metal and angular doom offset with elements of heavy psych and post-metal, a raucous and highly entertaining stroll down the left side of the metallic path.
To try and describe "Cataclysm" in words is no easy task, this is an album that really needs to be heard to truly appreciate its layers, shades and textures however we will do our best to explain why, in early February, we think this album could already be a contender for one of those end of year lists so beloved of our community. It is probably the opening/title track "Cataclysm" that best exemplifies why we think so highly of what TTB bring to the table, its doom laced back drop of slurring refrains, low basement level bass lines and varied rhythmic patterns is enhanced by vocals that range from shoegaze(ish) and mellow to harsh and growly but what really puts this song on a pedestal is its layers, peel this song back to its core and you would be listening to a pretty acceptable doom tune but with layers of colour, atmosphere and texture constantly being added and subtracted what was acceptable suddenly becomes extraordinary and dare we say it... exceptional. Ok so that's the opening track and most opening tracks are geared for impact so can TTB maintain that level of impact over the duration of a whole album? Well the answer to that is you bet your bottom dollar they can, in fact this is an album that just keeps giving and getting better and better as it goes along, songs like "Flesh Wound", "Only Violence" and "Fauna" are packed with all the righteous heaviness you could possibly ask for but also contain moments that leave you slack-jawed with amazement and disbelief, sometimes those moments are subtle sometimes blatant but they take each and every song gracing this album to a level that far exceeds that which we have come to expect from music of this nature.
Stoner doom can often find itself trapped in a cul-de-sac of its own making, limited by its reliance on slow, low and heavy guitar dynamics and plodding rhythms, this is not the case with Troy The Band's "Cataclysm" the band have identified the genres short fallings and attempted to fix them by adding an angular and off-centred element to their sound, the quartet still remaining true to the roots of the genre but then making things a little more exciting by taking left turns where many of their contemporaries might turn right.
Check 'em out ...
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