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Listening
to Erosion and comparing it to the vast majority of doom
/ death metal releases I have had the pleasure, and lack
thereof, of enjoying over the last couple of years makes
me realize how good it actually is. There is nothing out
of the ordinary here. Not much experimentation and not
one left turn into ‘un-doom’ territories. Erosion
is
nothing but a doom metal release with lighter touches of
death metal sparkled for greater effect and yet, it
seems so accomplished, it sounds so devastating. It is
spectacularly heavy, it is dense as concrete and dark as
our future. As it should, it is slow and never attempts
to show other inclinations. That’s precisely the reason
why I am so amazed by its quality.
Doom bands
now have the tendency to veer into experimental territories, if
not to elevate their entertainment value, at least to make the
musicians avoid all types of slumber. Psychedelia has been more
than abused in the last couple of years, for instance. But
Portugal’s Process of Guilt keep it tight and awesome with an
album that’s as true to the doom subgenre as suicide to a black
metaller’s ethos. It’s all based on the guitars of Nuno David
and Hugo Santos. There are zero keyboards and no effects. Just
the girth of the chord, the pleasure of low tuning, the
indulgence of letting distortion simmer in our subconscious.
The riffs are grim and sorrowful, dramatic and enervating.
Either axeman solos a bit, but the effect has been pushed to the
back, letting the heavy reign mighty, making the melody more
subdued.
Drummer
Goncalo Correia adds the color with an approach that’s anything
but simplistic. Here is the strange musician serving the song
but also throwing pixie dust in the way of nice splash cymbals.
Vocalist Hugo Santos sounds like a monster. A death metal
growler estranged in the right band. Here is the strange
vocalist that’s totally foreign to change, but somehow he fits
the songs so well Erosion is anything but excruciating. The
album flows, darkly.
Comprised of
six long songs (the shortest goes at eight minutes), Erosion is
one of the finest examples of the doom genre. Process of Guilt
is an accomplished band that deserves more exposure.
Erosion is
the band’s second full-length. As I’ve read, their debut
Renounce is amazing. Two members also do time in Before the
Rain, a band I covered in these untouchable pages a few months
back. This is a remarkable record.
Official Site
MySpace
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