Doom without the gloom.
“Spires Deceased” is the debut EP from this Oxfordshire metal quintet and it’s seriously heavy. Opener, ‘Secular Flood’ begins with a gentle riff that builds until the explosion of fast metal riffs, even faster drums and screaming takes over. There are some nice touches, like the gang vocal section at half way and a change of pace to a slower, hypnotic rhythm later on that gives you a break in the intensity for a moment.
‘Nietzsche 1883’ and Crystal Diety’ are both even darker and heavier, with the vocals verging on death metal growls, a sludgy pace and more complex and frenetic riffs; again there is a melodic section to break things up, but it’s never entirely tuneful and always stays on the heavy side. ‘Hallowed Plagues’ takes things down even further with the guitar and bass so down-tuned for the most part that you can hear the wobble on the strings, but even here they manage to keep things memorable with catchy hooks and the lead guitar carrying the melody.
All five tracks on this epic length (over 22 minute) EP are intense and doom laden with crunchy, monstrous riffs but they’re all shot through with layers of melody and quirky riffs and time signatures which means it stays with you and keeps you coming back for more.