ỤBỤRỤ - ỤBỤRỤ

Labels: Self-Released

Formats: CD/Digital

Release Date: 15 May 2026

Tracklist:

1. Butchered

2. In Tatters

3. HSPC

4. Rotting Flesh

5. Shaman

6. An Autophage

7. An Omniphage

8. Oblivion

In 2019 I wrote about the Death & Decay demo from West Yorkshire sludge/death/doom band ỤBỤRỤ (I actually can't believe it was that long ago now!). Seven years on from that demo, the trio have re-surfaced with their debut self-titled album (featuring re-worked songs from said demo), which was released on May 15 on CD and digitally. Despite their lowkey presence up to now, this album promises to push their name out further.

It’s great to be able to hear and champion another band from Leeds, following my recent review of Pleb. The fact that ỤBỤRỤ also represent the slow, sludgier, DIY community in the city makes it even better. Opening their debut full-length with ‘Butchered’, the trio offers up a mix of death-doom and blackened-sludge. Everything here is natural, from the instrumentation/vocals to the recording and mixing/mastering. As ỤBỤRỤ say themselves; “absolutely no AI used in any part of our creative process”, and that’s how It should be. We need more transparency in the music scene. I have received promos championing the use of AI to create music and art. Needless to say, they have been deleted straight away.

‘In Tatters’ builds on the low-end heft that kicked off this album, coupling it with a more urgent percussive tempo and funkier bass riffs. There’s a real sense of quality musicianship here and as the music becomes more off-kilter/avant-garde, it also becomes more enjoyable. ‘HSPC’ has an oddly upbeat feel to it, maybe because the riffs seem to be kind off inverted to what you’d normally expect from doom/sludge of this magnitude. What I’m trying to say is that it sounds like the song’s been recorded and then wound-back, while being re-recorded, with the vocals layered on top. Look, I know I’m way off here but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sound good! Perception is a weird thing.

After the utterly insane ending to ‘HSPC’, you might be left slightly dazed but don’t worry because ‘Rotting Flesh’ will ground you once again. A more conventional song (if such a thing even exists!) rooted in death/doom, but not limited to it. ỤBỤRỤ as a trio are able to make the sub-genre of sound fresh and revitalised somehow. Given the band’s love of slow and low heaviness, ‘Shaman’ is an apt title for a song that takes elements from stoner, psych and doom while also harnessing faster tempos. Again, their avant-garde tendencies shine here, with the bass guitar riffs being more prominent.

There’s something very striking about ‘An Autophage’ and it begins with the melodic riffs that help open the song. It’s a subtle twist, but the melody changes the feel of the album for me. While ỤBỤRỤ do revert back to their heavier blueprint for the most part, the extended passages of subtle melody provide some light amongst the gloom. The song’s actually split into two parts with the second being ‘An Omniphage’, which is ỤBỤRỤ in extremis. The melodic riffs are banished and in their place come downtuned instrumental passages, breakdowns and deep guttural vocals. It’s a really good juxtaposition.

Closing out the album with ‘Oblivion’, ỤBỤRỤ stride into their longest song as if their lives depended on it (in terms of the rest of the album anyway). Thematically, it follows straight on from ‘An Omniphage’, albeit with the little pause in between. It does change things up slightly, with some short melodic breaks in between the guttural dankness. I was just thinking about whether this band had any connection to Woes from Bradford, but I don’t think they do.

Ultimately and ignoring how tired I am this evening, ỤBỤRỤ have done a fantastic job with this album. It epitomises their DIY or Die spirit, given that it was self-recorded, self-produced and the art for it was done properly. The artistic fightback against AI has truly begun in the underground and I am fully behind it.

You can stream the album via Bandcamp below, where it's also available to purchase digitally and on CD:-

ỤBỤRỤ Instagram - @uburu.band