Friday 18 October 2019

Wallowing - Planet Loss


Labels: Sludgelord Records/Black Voodoo Records/Astral Noize Records
Formats: LP/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 13 Sep 2019

Tracklist:

1. I. Prologue
2. II. Earthless
3. III. Phosgene
4. IV. Hail Creation
5. V. Vessel
6. VI. Epilogue

I've spoken many times before about my admiration for the scene that's contained within Brighton. my main introduction to it was through Headless Guru Records back in 2012 and while I've lost touch with it slightly, it's great to see more bands coming though from the South coast city. Wallowing formed in 2018 and after a demo, released in the same year, they released their debut full-length last month with amazing artwork from Luke Oram (Atomck, Let It Die, Monolithian and more). It was released on vinyl by Sludgelord Records/Black Voodoo Records and on specially crafted cassette via Astral Noize Records.

It’s feels so nice to get to this point in the week and sinking into some new music makes it even more worth the wait. Wallowing provides that new music thanks to their debut album “Planet Loss”. Opening track I. Prologue is an instrumental intro of sorts with samples and wailing feedback that drags you into II. Earthless. Unlike the band of its namesake, this song is heavy, sludgy and cavernous in delivery with no upbeat grooves or melodies. It crawls along with retching guitar riffs, feedback and percussion/harsh vocals that sit within the mix adding to the claustrophobia that you’ll feel while listening.

III. Phosgene was the band’s first demo release back in 2018 and it shows a faster side to Wallowing, with grinding passages and breakdown-like riffs. Its urgency is more obvious and there’s a level of technicality that shows they’re not just here to play loud, brutish music. It’s a journey all of itself. Hell  appears during IV. Hail Creation, which weaves post-metal, black metal and doom into one intimidating collage of sound.

They go for the long anticipation-building intro on V. Vessel, which is actually fantastic as it grows in both volume and musical layers. It’s a song of multiple movements. Experimental, progressive and even sometimes slightly improvisational (maybe), Wallowing pulls off something that won’t just appeal to sludge/doom purists, but to those who also like rock at its noisy best. Ending with VI. Epilogue in the way that the album began, calmness is restored but the chaos and dissonance is much missed. Wallowing’s debut full-length is really strong. It sets the standard for what comes next from them but something tells me that they’ll have no problem reaching and even beating it. 

You can stream and purchase "Planet Loss" digitally from Wallowing below:-




Physical copies can be purchased from these links:-


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