Sons of Saturn

After a single, Barcelona newcomers Black Lotus are releasing a full album of their heavy metal-inflected doom this October. Listening to it, it's a pleasing combination; without any obvious influence from a specific band, the quartet crafts solid heavy metal riffs that they drag out to massive, echoing depths. The bass work from bassist/vocalist Cristian Vil is especially noticable here, though the guitars get most of the front of the mix. Vil and drummer Hug Ballesta deliver the vocals in a solid, clean vibrato; the duo's dour finality is distinctive and serves the band well. The content is straightforward traditional doom, with the overdubbed guitars (based on the description, the lead and rhythm duties are handled by the same guy when in the studio) riffing together to end each expression with a crushing chord. Occasionally, this becomes more apparent as the rhythm guitar simply cuts out, leaving the bass and the soloing lead guitar in charge of the solo parts. It works well, letting the listener get the full measure of the bass work and guitar without having their interplay buried under rhythm work that's already important the rest of the time in the song. Mixed into the doom styles are some stoner motifs, with trippy wah-wah at the beginning of Sandstorm, but the main emphasis is on a keeping up the pressure on the listener's eardrums. Even more than the title track, The Swamp does this best, thanks to its combination of fuzzy, introspective clean guitar with the return to heaviness; but all of the tracks put in a strong showing.