The Metal Crypt on Facebook  The Metal Crypt's YouTube Channel
Review: Bunkur - Bludgeon
Bunkur
www.somaworx.com
Bludgeon

Label: Deserted Factory
Year released: 2004
Duration: 65:04
Tracks: 1
Genre: Funeral Doom

Rating:
4.5/5


Review online: February 22, 2007
Reviewed by: Lars Christiansen
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 3.75/5 (75%) (8 Votes)
Review

There's funeral doom, there's extreme funeral doom, and then there's Bunkur. This is not an album for the mere dabbler in doom, but it is one for the hardcore doomsters out there, in particular those who have the time and patience to witness a single track lasting over an hour which features some of the most overwhelmingly depressive, bleak and despondent doom metal to ever be captured in plastic. It's difficult to find the words to describe the utterly desolate landscape this album portrays, but put it this way, the color will begin to fade from your vision (not to mention your cheeks) upon listening – the silvery grey artwork depicting perfectly the mood within. All in all, it does exactly what it says on the tin – Bludgeon.

It's not an arduous task taking this album in, but it's by no means an easy listen. Featuring some of the most saturated distortion ever to be used on a guitar, it froths upon each chord struck, crackling and fizzing in its sustain between notes, slowly coming down on you like a lead weight sapping all signs of buoyancy from the room. Even the fucking birds will stop singing outside, and you might even catch a few purposely flying into windows to end their pitiful existence. Extended ear-piercing feedback rings out throughout between notes (there's no real 'riffs' that could be mentioned, simply due to the deliberately lethargic nature of the music), echoing with accompanying screams and howls of sheer anxiety and gut-wrenching desperation. The minimalist drums offer some substantiation of rhythm, but in the main they reverberate behind each chord that's battered out, with a fading beat between each crushing guitar explosion. I know it's a cliché, but this could easily be the soundtrack to the end of the world. The earth slowly tearing itself apart, continents flaking away from their tectonic plates, floating away from mother earth into the stratosphere before the whole planet implodes on itself leaving nothing but detritus as a pale reminder of humankind.

So yeah, it's not the cheeriest of albums, but it is well worth investing time and effort into for maximum effect. Some will find it boring; others will find they've just discovered their new favorite doom band. One for lovers of the intensive kind of doom offered by such leading misanthropes as Wormphlegm, Thee Plague of Gentlemen and Until Death Overtakes Me.

Click below for more reviews
Latest 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Various Books/Zines 



The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright  © 1999-2024, Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt.  All Rights Reserved.