Contact fuzzycracklins@gmail.com

MISLEADING S/T instrumental doom psych

"Instrumental" and "Doom" are two words which when combined into a single phrase "Instrumental Doom" stop me right in my tracks. And then add some heavy psych to that?? When I got an email from MISLEADING about their debut album, I went straight to their Bandcamp page for a listen. When I noticed the album time clocks in around 45 minutes, that really sealed it for me. And sure enough, this band delivers a mind-blowing heavy doom psych experience. Thick, slow as it wants to be but more than able to kick up the tempo any fucking time they like, and enough guitar solos to please any heavy psych fan. Check out MISLEADING S/T:


One thing that is great about "Misleading Self-Titled" is the way it gladly embraces its heavy psych sound with its breaks in tempo and killer guitar solos, but doesn't end up getting into prog. (Don't get me wrong; I love progressive metal too, but it doesn't belong on this album.)

A great example where Misleading keeps the doom heavy but lets the guitar take off into outer space is around the 7 minute mark on "Karmemoto" where you need to buckle in and prepare for a hyperspace jump. And a killer sample on top of that? It's almost too much for an old gator like me.

As I said, this clocks at around the length of a killer vinyl, and it has the balanced sound you would love to hear on a record. There's a ebb and flow to the doom, and pacing to the psychedelic guitar work that make this a killer album to listen to straight through in a single session.

Spend a buck (or more!) when you download this album on Bandcamp so you'll get the bonus track. Right on! It's just as killer as the rest of the songs, but it puts the album way past being able to fit onto a vinyl.

Codex Tenebris by OLDD WVRMS

Codex Tenebris offers nearly an hour of instrumental doom with some post metal edginess. All the tracks are long, the riffs are heavy, and the atmosphere is dark throughout. There is a blend of experimental and industrial going on here that keeps the sound fresh and interesting and involving, without getting away from the heaviness that drives the whole album. I really dig this.


"A l'or, aux ombres et aux abîmes" is the 2nd track (and the shortest at just over seven minutes) and it offers some of the best guitar work of the album. The riff picks up and then slows down again to switch up the pace of the doom, and ends with a relentless pounding before finishing with atmospheric effects.

Dig the very atmospheric video for the lead single "Ténèbres":


The third track "Misère & Corde" might have the most post metal sound to it with plenty of breaks and changes in tempo, and when the guitar solo kicks in to deliver the darkness, it just fits right in. This isn't really the kind of album that lets itself drift into the background. It insists on keeping your attention and rewards you with a variety of dark sounds.

Next to last is "La vallée des tombes" which is the slowest song on the album without losing your interest or the edginess that you hear throughout the album.

"Fléau est son âme" finishes things off with an epic 15 minutes that starts slow and moody and works its way through everything Oldd Wvrms has to offer, and gives a spoken word chant on top of that. This band really delivers.

One of the tags on the album's Bandcamp page is "ritual ambient" and while I think these songs are a little heavy for ambient, there is something about that tag which really works for me. Here is how the band describes their sound:

« Fear is the price for imagination » : these words can describe the descent into the depths of this overwhelming instrumental landscape, drawing his inspiration from all things obscure... Feel the serpent crawl upon your flesh and embrace the haunting emptiness within.

Oli : Bass, Cho : Drums, Ben : Guitar

Codex Tenebris by OLDD WVRMS is on Cursed Monk Records where you can grab the CD.