Slumber Room – Slumber Room Cassette EP
Arising from the creative endeavors of M. Krutsinger (ex In Memorium) and M. Nihilist (Ex In Memorium, Lord Gore, and Abazagorath) is the new project Slumber Room. Mid paced and plodding black metal with a mechanical flair steers this duo into suicidal realms with their bleak riffs and droning style of misery embodied by a full production and emotive atmosphere.
Even though this material does achieve a mild industrial flair due to synthetic drums, the way in which this was recorded, the fully clinical sterility that can infect projects that use keyboards/drum machines for their rhythm section, isn’t present here, being replaced by a raw layer of fuzz over the drums, further accented by the caustic screams of Nihilist who shares a similar wave of audial disturbance. As the band strives to embrace that Filosofem quagmire of pleasingly nasty distorted dismay, perhaps their guitar production stands a bit too clean above the wreckage here for total hypnotic absorption. This allows the inconsistency in timing to befall the clean melody lines in the song Under the Dying Moon as Krutsinger seemingly falls behind the beat when plucking out those lonely notes. Perhaps this was the intention as it does inspire an uneasy/not quite right feeling, but a bit odd in this instance regardless. Another element that keeps SR from coming off as a too synthetic is their choice to avoid using speed as a weapon, rather keeping their songs on the brink of blackened doom, with more up-tempo tracks like the leadoff song “Slumber Room” which possessed a well written movement in the riffs and benefitted from the bands affinity for simplicity.
This opening statement from Slumber Room just kind of creeps in under the radar with its minimalist approach to blackened doom, but the patience this duo displays for allowing their songs to unfold and depress with cold dissonance was enough to keep me interested and to keep this cassette in the deck throughout the week. Having such a poisonous vocalist at your disposal doesn’t hurt either! Certainly nothing mind blowing here, but solid enough to make me want to hear how they develop on future releases. Follow the youtube link below for a preview… -Marty
NoVisible Scars
Worm Gear 
This song did nothing for me. Overly distorted vocals and “atmosphere” over real riffs type of black metal that played out nearly ten years ago. Plodding indeed…