Lurk – Aegis

While some bands out there manage to intrigue at sporadic points throughout their careers, there are some that accomplish the seemingly impossible and deliver greatness at what feels like every given turn and opportunity that comes before the act itself. Plenty of these acts still find themselves entrenched in the deepest reaches of the underground where light from above cannot penetrate, but some rise to find greater followings with higher purposes to enact upon all of creation. Since its debut album eleven years ago, Lurk has been an entity not to be underestimated with time only honing the band’s deadly talent. Each album has seen it become evermore entrenched in the sound they brought forth in that initial creation, but it’s with their fourth that Lurk has done no less than undeniably outdo itself.

After disappearing for seven years, not including the re-release of their last album, “Fringe”, in 2018, it shouldn’t be any stretch of the imagination to think that Lurk would take the time to really take a microscope to their sound and bring forth something slightly different that can tap into different sensations. Yet, that couldn’t be any further from the reality of what “Aegis” delivers in all of its seven tracks. Every facet of Lurk’s well-honed sound still has a place within this record as it becomes incredibly clear instantly to any who step into this record that Lurk not only knows precisely what they’re doing with meticulous and careful attention to detail, but they know how to execute it virtually without flaw. A crushing experience right out of the gate with the skies ablaze and cataclysmic riffs paired perfectly with the different aspects of doom and sludge metal coming together for what feels like the unholiest act of God, no one is safe from the might of Lurk once they step into the dark, claustrophobic halls of “Aegis” as the terrors and macabre wonders therein slowly unveil themselves before the vetted as well as the unsuspecting. This is what it means to take uncompromising heaviness to some of its most caustic and bloodthirsty yet terrifyingly patient lengths. Lurk has long held the power to devastate all who come before them, and “Aegis” is their latest onslaught upon life with it more than possible that this is the band’s most effective to date.

Unyielding in its presence even as the sheer intensity of the record pulls back for a powerful performance, “Aegis” is the exact kind of titanic pressure that many hope to achieve when taking doom and sludge to the darkest depths of what each are capable of with few able to accomplish what has been here. Lurk pulls no punches and leaves nothing to chance in every moment of this record to make it far more than some mildly heavy riffs, but, rather, the darkest apocalypse where there is no more room left in Hell and the dead walk the Earth.

“Aegis” releases on April 7th via Transcending Obscurity Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Aegis” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Lurk on Facebook here.