With "Ancient Squid, toothed whales and giant sharks" listed as an interest and the fact they call themselves a "nautical sludge metal band" who play "salted sludge doom" it is not hard to fathom (see what we did there) that Alabama's Loggerhead have a bit of an obsession with all things maritime, this obsession manifests itself throughout the bands debut release "Depths" so let's get to the bottom of it (sorry couldn't resist).
The reason many of us are reluctant to go swimming in the seas around out respective shorelines may have a lot to do with the subject of Loggerhead's first track on "Depths" a little atmospheric sea shanty going by the name of "Carcharodon" a song that extolls the hunting skills, patience and efficiency of that stealthiest of marine predators the humble shark. The song begins with ominous swirling effect and shimmering percussion that then segues into a chugging low, slow groove overlaid with a clean vocal that is parts narrated, parts sang. "Dark shapes wander, peacefully,shark dives under, patiently" sings the vocalist describing the act of predation on an unsuspecting herd of seals and never was an act of nature caught so perfectly in a heavy rock/metal context. Instrumental "Spermaceti" follows it's glistening arpeggios and restrained percussion augmented by swirling synths and cellos slowly builds layer by layer and seems to be heading towards some sort of noisy crescendo but then suddenly and unexpectedly flickers out on a wave of drone. "Architeuthis" picks up where the previous track left off mirroring the tranquillity and solitude of the deep oceans with a laid back and atmospheric post-rock/metal groove, again we are greeted by those half sang, half spoken vocals this time telling a tale of the elusive Giant Squid, a "red creature without face" against a backdrop of reverberating guitar, low grizzled bass and gentle percussion that sporadically erupts into heavy sludge as each verse reaches its lyrical peak. The songs groove then takes a dramatic turn into even heavier territory to represent the appearance of a whale in the Giant's story and perfectly captures, in music, the life and death battle for survival that then ensues. The albums last two songs "The Wretched Sea" and "Feeding Frenzy" are just as cinematic as those preceding them with the former a tale of the valour, gore, cruelty, excitement and fear of a whale hunt and the latter, an enthralling mix of intense heavy sludge and doomic prog, that tells the tale of when the hunters becoming the hunted.
Stephen Speilberg's "Jaws" was a huge hit in its day but when you look back on it now it seems dated and frankly a bit laughable, however one scene that always sticks in peoples minds is the one where the three shark hunters are sitting below deck telling tall stories and comparing scars and the talk comes around to Robert Shaw's character telling his tale of surviving the shark infested waters of the Pacific after the USS Indianapolis was sunk in 1945, it is a scene that is spine tingling, intense and leaves a long lasting impression. It is the same feeling Desert Psychlist felt after listening to Loggerheads "Depths"
Check it out ….
© 2018 Frazer Jones
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