ALBUM REVIEW: Beneath Oblivion, "The Wayward and the Lost"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 27/03/2018

Label: Weird Truth Productions

“The Wayward and the Lost” may be the first album to induce lethal sepsis, especially for those unprepared for the sheer annihilating depths of the quartet’s funereal, occasionally sublime, brand of sludgy doom.  For those who revel in plumbing the nightmarish depths, this nihilistic plunge is just the trip you need.

“The Wayward and the Lost” CD//DD track listing

1. The City, A Mausoleum (My Tomb)

2. Liar’s Cross

3. The Wayward and the Lost

4. Savior-Nemesis-Redeemer

5. Satyr

The Review:

               

There was a period in my late teens where I’d throw in my DVD of “Requiem for a Dream”every week.  Already cripplingly depressed, there was something cathartic to what, until that point, was maybe the most soul-crushing movie I could find (I hadn’t yet discovered Michael Haneke, Lars Von Trier, or any other miserable Euro-directors).  While I wish I was cool enough to have been spinning truly nihilistic funeral doom, sludge, and black metal, I was probably listening to early naughts emo or Nine Inch Nails or, if I was feeling political, some CRASS.  But maybe it’s for the best I didn’t have a band like Beneath Oblivion to pull up after a late night viewing of Jared Leto’s necrotic arm amputation – my vital organs may have shut down out of sheer despair.  Through a blend of post-rock cinematic composition and death doom tone, Beneath Oblivion’s “The Wayward and the Lost” is a painfully addictive listen for anyone craving a nihilistic trudge through societal misery.

               

From the outset, Beneath Oblivionwears their Godspeed You! Black Emperor inspiration on their sleeves.  The opening samples, haunting evocations of modern industrial alienation, nearly overwhelm the clean, twangy guitar chords and sparse percussion.  But when the distorted assault kicks in, beauty is quickly annihilated – lead vocalist Simpson’s wailing, spectral vocals.  While the sound may be post-apocalyptic, the lyrical content is all too painfully situated in the present crises of civilization: “I never believed, / In man or saviors. / This world in decline, / The needle, the wasted.”  Throughout the vacillations between reverb-laden clean guitar breaks and fuzzy, gut churning chords, the throbbing hum of Keith Messerle’s bass lines and trudging smash of Nate Bidwell’s drumwork sound like the spastic heartbeat of a dying leviathan.

               

Occasionally, I wish I could get a little more clarity when hearing the sinister, crackling sample work Allen Scott weaves through “The Wayward and the Lost”.  The inflections sound just right, but I’m wondering if I’m missing out on some of the more interesting spots in “Liar’s Cross” or the monologue at the heart of the death doom title track.  Which isn’t to say Beneath Oblivion buries everything in distortion.  The folky guitar tones, subtle organ lines, and hypnotic background vocals of “Liar’s Cross” are all brilliant counterpoints to the crackling malevolence at the heart of the song.

               

The closing track, “Satyr”, is a propulsive, cinematic opus on a record stacked with epic, expansive compositions.  Layered with samples, countered guitar and bass harmonies, crackling static, and the typically massive drum tone, the cumulative effect is nearly orchestral.  But this isn’t some triumphant lift out of darkness.  Simpson instead spits out a hate-filled eulogy for a damned race: our own.  “We, the futile, / Hand of man's failures, / We, the worthless / Forgotten, the void / Of light, Of suffering.”  These are lacerating condemnations that could give you tetanus.  As a final kiss-off, he advises “Hold on- To your guns / To your drugs / The end is near.”  With a final, painful sample of chugging exhaust and ambient industrial noise, there’s little doubt that Beneath Oblivion’sprophecy feels all but carved in stone.  “The Wayward and the Lost” may be the first album to induce lethal sepsis, especially for those unprepared for the sheer annihilating depths of the quartet’s funereal, occasionally sublime, brand of sludgy doom.  For those who revel in plumbing the nightmarish depths, this nihilistic plunge is just the trip you need.

“The Wayward and the Lost” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook