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OLD MAN GLOOM Is Active Again To 'Resume The Gloom'

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OLD MAN GLOOM Is Active Again To 'Resume The Gloom'

https://metalinjection.net/news/reunited/old-man-gloom-is-active-again-to-resume-the-gloom

#OLDMANGLOOM #IsActiveAgainTo #ResumeTheGloom #MetalInjection #metal #music

Blessings – Blodsträngen Review

By Owlswald

Originating from the same vibrant scene that has spawned acts ranging from At the Gates to Ace of Base, Gothenburg experimental noise quartet Blessings have been forging their own path within the borders of Sweden’s olde harbor city for thirteen years. Comprised of long-standing veterans of the Swedish scene, Blessings have been worshipping at the altar of turmoil since its 2012 debut, Bittervaten came out waving a Black Flag of loud, Unsanely harsh, in-your-face noise rock. Subsequent years of relentless touring and creative experimentation culminated in the follow-up, Biskopskniven1 which leaned more heavily into rhythmic anchoring, trance-inducing moods, and riffing. With Blodsträngen,2 Blessings is poised to take listeners on an intense, genre-bending journey, venturing into increasingly experimental and unconventional sonic territory.

Blodsträngen blends the grit of punk, the expansiveness of post-rock, and hardcore’s raw aggression into an intensely juxtaposed sound that is dark, abrasive, and dramatic. Guitarist Johan G Winther lays down chunky Mastodon-style motifs (“Copper + Dirt,” “Raised on Graves”), shoegaze melodies (“No Good Things,” “Strings of Red”) and bursts of dissonant chords (“Clean”). Mattias Rasmusson’s booming rock grooves drive moments of Old Man Gloom-like explosiveness, while Erik Skytt’s percussive accents and expressive modular tones—featuring everything from organs, cowbells, and woodblocks to a xylophone—strategically guide listeners through Blodsträngen. Fredrik Karlsson’s powerful voice commands excellent projection, especially during Blodsträngen’s darker verses, alternating between spoken-sung punk vocals reminiscent of The Jesus Lizard or early Killing Joke (“No Good Things,” “Clean”) and throaty, abrasive howls (“Allt Vi Kan Ge Är Upp,” “Strings of Red”). Overall, Blodsträngen sounds massive and confrontational, the instrumentation hitting well above its weight, piercing a bright master that belies its DR score.

Blodsträngen is best experienced as an immersive, uninterrupted ride. Its seven tracks flow seamlessly, shifting moods and textures while progressively intensifying. The record immediately kicks off with its strongest material, showcasing Blessings’ dynamic songwriting and unique sound. “Raised on Graves” quickly establishes its edgy, ominous feel, creating foreboding through Winther’s haunting notes, Karlsson’s growling bass, and Skytt’s tribal accents. Eschewing a predictable crescendo, it cleverly loops back to another verse before diving headfirst into full-blown punk with an insistent tambourine. An isolated cowbell punctuates the track, serving as a stark prelude to “Strings of Red,” which explodes into a hardcore frenzy after spells of tense breaths. Skytt’s suspenseful synth leads and Winther’s aggressive riffing drive the song, which serves as a definitive statement of Blessings’ ability to produce hard-hitting material with intriguing textural elements, despite its meandering finish. Rounding out the album’s robust first third is the ambitious and lengthy “Clean,” one of Blodsträngen’s longest tracks. Highlighted by what might be one of the gnarliest bass tones I’ve heard in ages, Karlsson’s hefty bass line and somber vocal delivery channels a Filter-esque vibe before a devastating breakdown tears through the mix. The song works beautifully once it gains momentum, though its dragging intro and overlong build partially weigh it down.

Blodsträngen starts with incredible momentum and promise, making Blessings’ subsequent struggles to maintain its energy all the more disappointing. While “Allt Vi Kan Ge Är Upp” injects much-needed vigor back into Blodsträngen with its dominant rhythms and exhilarating crescendo, “No Good Things” marks a noticeable dip in energy. The track lacks the compositional ambition of the album’s earlier material, consequently feeling plain as it relies too much on Skytt’s quirky samples and Karlsson’s vocals. “Copper + Dirt” is a short burst of aggressive, riff-driven material that abruptly ends after less than two minutes, a confusing result that feels wholly out of place. Finally, the terrific, harmonized melodies from Winther and Skytt within the first half of “Through Veils of Glass and Silica” suffer, unfortunately, from its excessive length and meandering post-rock sections, which leave Blodsträngen ending on a drawn-out note.

Blessings is a good band, but Blodsträngen is a front-loaded album that left me wishing these Swedes had maintained their peak energy for the entire forty-one minutes. When they’re firing on all cylinders, Blessings crafts unique, powerful, and atmospherically heavy music. Their future success hinges on maintaining their intensity and sharpening their songwriting, steering clear of unnecessary repetition or padding. A great album is potentially waiting in the wings, and Blessings certainly has the talent to deliver. The question is, will they?

Rating: Mixed
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Pelagic Records
Websites: blessingsgbg.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Blessingsgbg
Releases Worldwide: August 1st, 2025

#25 #2025 #Aug25 #BlackFlag #Blessings #Blodsträngen #ExperimentalMetal #Filter #KillingJoke #Mastodon #Noise #NoiseRock #OldManGloom #PelagicRecords #PostRock #postPunk #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal #TheJesusLizard #Unsane

Sumac – The Healer Review

By Carcharodon

Well, goodness. It’s been a while since I last sat my ass down to write a review.1 Now, there were Important Reasons for some of this (and other, less AMG-related, reasons for the rest). Unlike me, Aaron Turner is not someone you could accuse of having a shabby work ethic. Best known as the frontman of post-metal legends Isis, Turner has numerous current and past bands, as well as having founded Hydra Head Records and more. He has fronted atmospheric sludge trio Sumac for a decade now and, somewhat remarkably, the band’s line-up has stayed consistent for that period too, with Turner joined by bassist Brian Cook (Russian Circles, Botch) and drummer Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists). Their 2015 debut, The Deal, got a very positive review here from, of all people, Dr. A.N. Grier. Less surprisingly, Sumac’s third outing,2 Love in Shadow, was showered with praise by the reviewer formerly known as Akerblogger, who described it as “unique and undeniably powerful.”

Sticking with our tradition of reviewing every other Sumac record,3 I am here to help you digest fifth album, The Healer.4 This gargantuan record is healing in much the same way a serious car crash, followed by a prolonged and medically induced coma, is healing. Sumac’s longest outing to date, The Healer is a sprawling affair, as wandering, static-laced noise, introspective warblings and languid, dawdling melodies swirl and eddy around bludgeoning, rough-hewn sludge. This will come as no surprise to fans of Sumac. Their work is an experience, and one you have to allow to wash over you and pull you under. Like the tide coming in, The Healer surrounds and submerges you, before washing you away to distant shores, where it leaves you broken on the rocks. It sets out to explore the parallel experiences of creation and destruction, emphasizing periods of expansion and contraction, corruption and regrowth. Comprising only four “songs,” and clocking in at 76 minutes, Sumac allows this album to breathe.

Opener “World of Light” is already six minutes old before drawn-out electronica, static, and free-form drum fills are joined in the mix by something resembling a riff and Turner’s trademark, sulphuric roar. For over 25 minutes, this first track slides in and out of focus, as sonorous notes are left to hang in the air. Sometimes these fade off into the ether, sometimes they are replaced by a surprisingly clean, melodic note, at others still you slam into an abrupt wall of sludge. In some ways, The Healer is like a more melodic, less unrelentingly bleak, version of Old Man Gloom’s No. It’s the album’s middle two cuts—each just shy of 13 minutes long—that particularly showcase this. “Yellow Dawn” opens to ponderous percussion and rising reverb, which gradually opens up into a bluesy guitar line that recalls, of all things, the opening to Kyuss’ “Whitewater.” Unlike that track, however, which builds into a stoner blues classic, “Yellow Dawn” morphs into a jagged, unrelenting sledgehammer, that slams into you, over and over. “New Rites” has more overtly sludgy overtones from the outset but gradually descends into full-blown chaos and cacophony as it progresses, with Sumac slowly hauling its scattered pieces back together at its conclusion.

The Healer’s closer, “The Stone’s Turn,” is another 25-minute beast, which opens as its counterpart, opener “World of Light”, finished: raw and crushing. More ponderous, contemplative notes and melodies gradually leak back in, before a bass-driven urgency overtakes and the record throws itself toward its close. This album is not an easy listen, but it’s a rewarding one. Not nearly as bleak as it first appears, there are deep seams of silvery melody to be mined here, if you’re willing to smash through the jagged walls of sludge, and sift the electronic slag. Cook’s bass is instrumental in providing something vaguely resembling structure, while Scott Evans’ production is raw and organic, giving Sumac the textures and layers needed for this style to work. At only DR5, however, The Healer is loud, where perhaps just a little more sonic nuance could have been deployed but this is such a minor gripe, it’s hardly worth mentioning.

If you know Sumac, The Healer will do nothing to change your current opinion of them, whatever that may be. If you’re new to Sumac, you’ll know within a few minutes whether you’re up for the ride that they’re offering. Abrasive, spiky, challenging, and curiously beautiful, The Healer’s pulsing, percussive, almost-free-form experimentation is like Isis’ Celestial on a bad acid trip. And I’m all in on this one.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Thrill Jockey
Websites: sumac.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sumacband
Releases Worldwide: June 21st, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #AtmosphericSludge #Drone #Electronica #Isis #Jun24 #Kyuss #LoveInShadow #Noise #OldManGloom #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #Sludge #Sumac #TheDeal #TheHealer #ThrillJockey