Album: Rain
Year: 2016
Rating: 88/100
Petrichor don't exactly deal in the cheerful. The Leeds-based trio play some of the bleakest funeral doom this side of the likes of Mourning Beloveth and Funeral, coupled with the occasional foray into the most aggressive black metal and the odd switch into the atmospheric soundscapes associated primarily with post-rock and the likes of Isis and Neurosis et al. Of their three primary influences, cited as My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Celtic Frost, it is the latter whose influence stands out above the rest.
Opening track "Drown the World" is a nine minute plus opus of sheer brutal misery that paradoxically is a delight to the ears; the contrast in clean and growled vocals provides a balance that is superbly maintained throughout the album, against a backdrop of coruscating riffs and the occasional blastbeats. Middle track "This Too Must Die" is the only real curveball that Petrichor throw to the listener, with its angular time signatures and clean tone guitars evoking mid period Isis (think circa-"Panopticon" and you're not far off the mark at all). The real jewel in the crown that is "Rain" is the twelve minute monolith "Nihilist", which gives the listener the line, "Reality is a construct and all your Gods are dead", which illustrates the angle Petrichor take on the world perfectly.
"Rain" is a strong debut effort for a wonderfully miserable new band, and Petrichor are everything a good funeral doom band should be. I'm looking forward to see what they come up with next, and how exactly they can continue the nihilism. Get hold of a copy of this; it's worth your time if bleak music is your calling.
Track list:
- Drown the World
- As the Dark Steals the Light
- This Too Must Die
- We Are the Fire
- Nihilist
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