Review by Sandre the Giant
I waxed lyrical about German sludge doomsters Eremit and their debut record two years ago here. They have a mighty legacy to follow, even if it is only one album. ‘Desert of Ghouls’ is the newest piece from them, and it is out now through Transcending Obscurity.
Only two tracks here, but they total over 20 minutes so I think the legacy of ‘Carrier of Weight’ remains strong. Opener ‘Beheading the Innumerous’ swells through squalling feedback and schizophrenic drums into a fuzzed out rumble that groans with primal weight. This mighty riff cycles endlessly, soon accompanied by a tortured howl. It is hypnotising and smothering, slowly submerging you in mighty doom while you’re too transfixed to move. The other half of this piece, ‘City of Râsh-il-nûm’, begins to fade in gently, like a mirage slowly becoming clear. It’s over five minutes in before a churning groove looms into view, a bleakly relentless sandstorm of gloom piling dust on an ancient place. It feels like an awakening of some dark beast that dwells beneath a forgotten temple, lost to time.
‘Desert of Ghouls’ is a very apt title, as this feels like a journey through ancient lands and bewitched by ancient dark magic. There’s a titan weight to each track, an oppressive depth and darkness to each sallow riff and impassioned growl. Eremit blew my mind the first time I heard them, and they’ve begun now to move beyond our world and into something else. Something old and vibrant.
https://eremitdoom.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/EremitDoom/
The Killchain 