This is a fucking magnificent beast of an album.
Verdun are named after one of the longest and devastating battles
of the First World War. Fought in the Western Front over 10 months,
an estimated 976,000 people lost their lives in an area so small
that parts of the ground were composed of more human flesh
and bone than of earth and vegetation.
Taking their name from such a gruesome example of mankinds
destructive urges should give you an idea of what the music sounds like.
3 songs all around the 10 minute mark deliver despairing epic
tracks that are the perfect mix of sludge/doom/hardcore. Battle scarred
riffs that are droned and tortured get the head banging in slow motion
while the howling vocals that are mixed quite low, fight through the
murk of massive basslines and drums that have a monolithic feel to them.
Verdun create some masterful atmospherics and are not afraid to bring
a song down to the wire, creating moments of calm and eerie quietness
before delivering explosive climaxes that leave you feeling drained.
The song arrangements create a claustrophobic tension of bleakness
that make this album one to be listened to as a whole to get the
full effect. I like this a lot!
Bio: Named after the most inhuman battle in the First World War, VERDUN (Montpellier - France) are one of those bands that are hard to label, merging the lines between sludge/doom and slowed-down dark hardcore. Heavy and dry riffing, neck-breaking groove, incantatory vocals and a strong psychedelic feel, that's what you can expect from the half-hour of their debut EP "The Cosmic Escape Of Admiral Masuka". Carrying a strong live reputation, VERDUN is definitely one of those bands to watch for any fan of Burning Witch, Electric Wizard, or Amenra; and by extension anything dark and crushing.
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