Headshrinker – Callous Indifference (Real Mental Health Blackened Death Doom)

 

Now here’s an approach we could use more of: an empathetic, but not pathetic, consideration of mental illness. Not as an “oh so very scary crazy person” aesthetic, but one trapped in loneliness, depression, and all that good stuff that makes people creative in their desire for an escape from their own physical prison. Been there, b-ros. Even better, not only does everyone experience some form of mental illness at some point in life, dudes behind this band have as well, so like they have the foundation on which to build a proper aesthetic. Self-released, and self-loathing reign in Headshrinker’s Callous Indifference, an interesting approach to mental illness that melds three genres.

   

Headshrinker have some experience behind them and Callous Indifference largely expresses it. While mixing death metal with black and doom, the resulting concoction is largely successful. Merging it with the mental health aesthetic was tricky, but with personal experience that’s a breeze, actually. The primary reason it works here is the personal experiences of the band are expressed through noticeable emotion in the vocal delivery; roars turn into agonizing shrieking, and all of that. Without this element, it’s difficult to say whether this would have worked, because the music, by itself, has a few moments of awkwardness that verge on social anxiety rather than social isolation, if you forgive my own mental health reference. As a whole, however, Callous Indifference provides an interesting sound base an a welcome change in concept.

 

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Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Headshrinker – Callous Indifference
Self-Released
4.4 / 5