Noctomb S/T (Wait There’s More, Southern Blackened Sludge)
Hmm. Well. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band as versatile as this in any genre. I also like that these guys are from Raleigh, NC, because the scene there has always been this weird mid-level thing for the underground. Not unusual, since it is a college domain, and the expected indie market abounds. For the underground, other than Corrosion of Conformity, rarely does a band from the area one, play away from home on a legit tour, or two, get any sort of notice. There are some fine acts from Raleigh, including defunct ones, but nothing you’d likely find particularly interesting. Whoops, sorry, now we have Noctomb.
Easily billed as a variant on sludge, leaning towards the blackened, Noctomb are impressive for their diverse sound at the ouset, but wait there’s more. With its southern edge and minor doom elements tossed into the mix, this S/T never quite places itself clearly in any one genre, but somehow this ends up a general win instead of a precipitous fail. Noctomb moves effortless from trudging, bleak riffs to grinding, grooving slams that suddenly tremolo like it’s the middle of winter on the tundra, yet never artificially. Particularly effective are the vocals, which are delivered in pure misery, yet simultaneously enraged. At times there is a loss of direction, and it tends to lose momentum towards the final track, but Noctomb could to Raleigh what Corrosion of Conformity once was. Let’s see where they go.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Noctomb – S/T
Self-Released
Cover Art: Unknown
4.4 / 5
