It’s always interesting to watch a band grow and evolve both as a band as well as their sound to see how much further they can take it through more experience and ingenuity to be had with each successive step. Chasmdweller has been one of those unexpected joys that I’ve more than welcomed since their works being something that always raises at least one eyebrow for me for about the past year, and I was very much expecting the same thing before I dove into their upcoming 2-track EP. Thankfully, I wasn’t let down whatsoever.
If I were to sit here and continuously describe what’s done here with this EP as just death/doom then I’d be severely limiting what Chasmdweller has accomplished here. That’s not to say that those elements are lacking through the swirling madness of the darkest psychedelia that is “Altar of Bizarre Cruelty” are far from what death/doom is known for, but Chasmdweller has done a brilliant job at expanding their sound here even if it’s only by a little. It’s very akin to some kind of a malicious blend between Gateway and Ommadon in the strangest ways, and there’s no way to deny that Chasmdweller makes it work deliciously even with how unforgivingly caustic. The only unfortunate part about “Altar of Bizarre Cruelty” is that it’s just two songs which is its own sort of bizarre cruelty. The very darkness of this work draws you in virtually without fail to wrap you in this constantly active warzone of aural assaults mixed with bombarding the mind via chiseling away at its walls bit by bit, and every second of this EP does that the best that it can without mercy to result in a listen that is very hostile but incredibly fascinating should you fall into it in the right manner.
This is just a small stepping point in the grand scheme of what Chasmdweller has been laying out before themselves for years, and everything that’s brought forth for “Altar of Bizarre Cruelty” not only gets me interested in what’s coming next for this act, but it shows without a shadow of a doubt that they’re constantly improving their craft. It’s already something deadly in plenty of accounts, and it’s far from anything to sleep on that every excavator of the underground should make a point to check in on at some point in their time.
“Altar of Bizarre Cruelty” releases on August 20th!
PRE-ORDERÂ “Altar of Bizarre Cruelty” on Bandcamp here.
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