Dunwich

Following 2016's debut in Innsmouth, Lovecraft-themed blackened doom duo Obed Marsh turns out a new opus of similar quality and style, with even more concept-album stylings baked into it to make a mix of creeping horror and despair that rivals its predecessor. While the album has its crashing moments of heaviness, a lot of its atmosphere comes from its slow pacing and cold, echoing presentation. Like the victims of Wilbur Whately's invisible brother, the listener is reduced to waiting for the the band's riffs to come and slowly crush him into jelly. The individual songs aren't as distinct in flavor as they were in Innsmouth, but they're conveniently grouped into three parts, each named after the Whately family member that appears most prominently at each stage of the story, and starting with an appropriately chaotic intro named after Yog Sothoth. The Lavinia tracks are the best showcases of Drew James Griffiths' radular guitar sound, with the longest and most oppressive of the three being Wretched Duo, though the instrumental Hieronymous gives a softer, more comforting piano melody without the unrelenting dismality of its predecessors. The Wilbur tracks are more ominous but also more introspective, dragging in short, clean strums the same riffs that get blasted on Wreathed in Ivy. The final Hieronymus trio are the most menacing, the guitars getting slow and repetitive to the point of referencing drone, but buried in the middle of these behemoths are songs -- just very slow, harsh songs. Adding to the strangeness of the whole thing is the instrumentals, which occur at the end of each trio. Do they set the final mood, resolving the main pieces, or do they only signify further horrors yet to come? That mystery can only be answered by the band. Though this one's a lot more detailed, its lonely howls don't quite capture the sense of cosmic foreboding that it felt like Dunwich should give; Innsmouth's sense of overall wretchedness and decay was more poignant. It's still a top-notch slice of blackened doom, though. Funeral doom fans will also find this one appealing. Bandcamp: https://obedmarsh.bandcamp.com/.