ALBUM REVIEW: Light Will Consume Us All – Chrch

Sacramento doom band CHRCH have returned with their second record (and their first for new label Neurot Recordings), and with Light Will Consume Us All, they have brought us a monolithic three track collection that spans 45 minutes of grim and ambitious noise that will doubtless pound many listeners into submission, in the best possible way.

The album opens with Infinite, a huge sprawling twenty-minute epic that begins with a two-minute intro of clean echoing guitar which is gradually joined by the rest of the instruments as the track builds toward a gargantuan conclusion. Firstly, the drums of Adam Jennings join in and then at around the six-minute mark, Eva Rose’s haunting and delicate vocals appear before the eventual coming together of the rest of CHRCH‘s sound to add to a stunning wall of noise. The construction of the track is very clever as it draws you deeper and deeper in and refuses to let go. It dies down again around halfway through the track and these waves of noise are something that happens repeatedly throughout the release.

Portals is a little different as it takes the heavier aspects of the opener and, for the most part, flows at a constant mid paced tempo rather the ebb and flow of Infinite. However it still has that pattern that never allows you to be totally comfortable and at ease, instead both in awe, and slightly tense about what is actually happening here.  Closer Aether with the ethereal, and haunting feel, with seven minutes of its nine and a half minutes a simple funeral paced lament before a burst of raw, primitive black metal comes completely out of the blue. True to form, as soon as that particular chapter is over, it just fades away as if it were never there, replaced by a final twenty seconds that goes back to the original sluggish riffs.

Light Will Consume Us All is a challenging listen. Neurot Recordings obviously know their stuff, and have signed a band who can effortlessly switch between very differing styles and can take the listener with them on an uncompromising but rewarding journey. CHRCH have a sound that both sounds familiar, and also has their own warped spin on a well worn genre. If multi-layered and music as intimidating as it is enlightening appeals to you, you wont go far wrong with this. Intense.

Rating: 9/10

Light Will Consume Us All is out now via Neurot Recordings.

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