Time Signature Doomsday one...

Genre: doom metal

Get ready for some heavy shit. Lumbar is a supergroup of sorts, consisting of members from YOB, Hims, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, and Iamthethorn. The group was formed earlier this year, and they are already ready with their debut album The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome, which is scheduled for release on November 26.

The band members' backgrond in sludge and doom metal is reflected in the music on the album which is crushingly heavy and, frankly, a very unpleasant listen. This is obviously the trio's intention. The tracks on the album are entrancingly heavy and darkly psychedelic, but at the same time they are challenging, intense, and unsettling. Lumbar have embraced a simplistic form of doom metal centring around downtuned guitars and an extremely crunchy bass. These doom metal aesthetics are combined with atmospheric passages and experiments with noise. 'Day Four' even has a slight Twin Peaks-like feel to it. This combination makes the music enchanting and repulsive at the same time, which is quite an artistic feat.

Lumbar's The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome is not for everyone, and I think that even seasoned fans of doom metal will have to get used to the dark and tense atmosphere on the album, but if you are into crushingly heavy and minimalistic doom metal which ingerits the most gritty aspects of sludge metal, then you should definitely check this album out. In some respects, it may be the scariest rock music album since Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)