ALBUM REVIEW: Distortions – Godthrymm
Forming back in 2017, Halifax’s GODTHRYMM have risen to become one of the most promising doom acts in the country both live and as a creative force, with only perhaps fellow West Yorkshire miserabilists MY DYING BRIDE surpassing them. Indeed, lead guitarist and vocalist Hamish Glencross and drummer Shawn Taylor-Steels were once members, and have each carved out reputations for themselves with celebrated acts from the region before and since, both becoming formidable and underrated songwriters. Since the release of their debut EP The Grand Reclamation in 2018, the band have only gone from strength to strength, with each new record showing more musical growth and seeing them develop a style that embraces the epic end of doom metal whilst tempering this formula with some incredibly atmospheric and captivating flourishes. The band’s latest, second album, Distortions, is another great slab of bombastic, adventurous doom that sees the outfit, now including Glencross‘ wife Catherine on vocals and keyboards as a full member, stamp their place at the forefront of the UK’s doom metal scene.
As Titans proves to be an ambitious start, combining mammoth guitars with haunting melodies and cavernous drums that lend a monolithic feel. Coupling epic doom with a subtle, hazy undertone, ambient keyboards and ethereal female vocals adding further depth to the sound, it’s a heavy and grandiose effort with lots of imaginative musicianship peppered liberally throughout. It shifts seamlessly from one excellent riff to the next and makes for a varied, immersive sound, kicking things off with a powerful statement of intent. Devils sets a more groove-laden tone, feeling closer musically to stoner rock or even sludge early on, with the more polished leads and bombastic vocals helping to keep this rooted firmly within doom metal. This blend of styles results in a punchier offering with chunky guitars and authoritative rhythms that sounds tighter, but nonetheless expansive.
Echoes plays to the band’s grander side, with ponderous guitar harmonies, steady drums and an opaque atmosphere all creating a darker, brooding approach. As its progresses, the guitars become weightier, with the reverb-drenched vocals adding a lighter counterpoint to the dense hooks that back them and providing some great musical focal points. Obsess And Regress serves as a muscular affair, with huge guitars interspersed with some minimalistic, cleaner sections, monstrous bass hooks and thunderous drums, feeling at points like a brilliant blend of YOB and TROUBLE. Vocally, this is the track where Catherine‘s singing comes prominently to the fore, adding a softer edge to proceedings that contrasts well with the meaty musical undercurrent, and injecting a dramatic side into the music that makes it all the more immersive.
Unseen Unheard returns to the groove-laden swagger that featured earlier on the record, retaining some of the beefier elements of the preceding track whilst throwing in some gothic pomp from the keyboards, with the guitars being all but stripped away at points, allowing the sombre vocals to carry portions of this track. There’s a liberal dose of melodicism in the leads that does a lot to grab the listener’s attention, without being overbearing and limiting the song’s impact. Follow Me, a towering, imposing juggernaut with bleak riffs, rumbling percussion and echoing vocals, is arguably the album’s centrepiece, leaning heavily into a melancholic doom sound that builds from its measured opening moments to be an almost cinematic experience, with the addition of Aaron Stainthorpe‘s unmistakeable vocals adding another fantastic layer to the track. In fact, the vocals in general are perhaps among the best on the whole record, ebbing and flowing around the music and making this a great climactic number. The album’s final track, Pictures Remain, should feel somewhat anti-climactic after its gargantuan predecessor, but the combination of light guitars and angelic vocals shifts the musical focus significantly away from doom, allowing a softer, but nonetheless magnificent, sound to emerge that stands apart from the rest of the album. It carries the momentum of Follow Me forward in many respects, whilst creating something distinct and memorable that brings things to a close in majestic fashion.
Distortions is arguably GODTHRYMM‘s best and most imaginative work to date, no small feat, as their first album, and indeed their first three EPs, have already set an incredibly high creative bar for the band to surpass. One of the biggest reasons that this album is so impressive is its variety, with the timeless epic doom of their core sound being paired with polished and catchy guitar work and some subtler changes in tone that add another brilliant layer to this dark and foreboding brew. Furthermore, the addition of Catherine Glencross on vocals and keyboards provides another lighter element that contributes a dramatic and borderline gothic edge to the mix, again inserting a grandiose feel into the music that complements the bleak, muscular backbone of the rest of it extremely well. Songs like Echoes, Devils and the amazing Follow Me are among the band’s best tracks, standing alongside the likes of We Are The Dead and The Grand Reclamation in an ever growing repertoire of magnificent, punchy offerings, and making Distortions a fantastic album that further cements GODTHRYMM‘s place at the forefront of the UK’s doom metal scene.
Rating: 9/10
Distortions is out now via Profound Lore Records.
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