Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Highgate - Self Titled [Total Rust - 2008]

Highgate are a 3 piece doom project from Kentucky USA and this self titled album is their first grim sonic vomit onto the world at large. The albums made up of one long 54 minute track that for the most part makes an impressive, inventive and rewardingly grim apocalyptic doom listening.

It all starts off with a mid-pace quite harmonic yet bleak riff march and a dialogue sample about nuclear bomb fall-out, before one of the bands two vocalist roars in with sandpapered growl sounding quite Alan Dubin like(Khanate ect) as the riff continues to move simply yet effectively from one downturend chug to another. At about the 5 minute mark the riff takes on a more marching feel as the singer details melted landscapes and the aftermath of a bomb fall. Before it drops into some gloomy and tumbleweed weed  blowing bass tone wondering with some simple effect peddle oscillating guitar tone and the singer once more droping in with pained bloody throat tones- making a most effective windswept atmosphere like walking through the after math of the bomb drop, which is nicely intensifies when they drop down into feedback whines and wind like textures at the 14 minute mark.

And for the rest of the track it crawls, chugs and even goes up to a quite speedy black metal type pace and vocal attack at points too. The only let down to the whole thing for me is towards the end when the band throw in an up-beat indie goth rock riff which they seem to repeat again and again for the last 10 minutes or so. It just rather cheapens the apocalyptic atmosphere they created before hand.

Anyway an impressive and promising opening shot  which  has some heavy Khanate mimicking going on vocally and a bit of amateurish atmosphere making here and there. But there’s enough original and creative twists to make this worthwhile and rewarding to fans of long form doom work-outs.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Highgate - Self Titled
Highgate are a 3 piece doom project from Kentucky USA and this self titled album is their first grim sonic vomit onto the world at large. The albums made up ...
190424   Zachary James Watkins - Affir...
180424   Ulvtharm - 7 Uthras
180424   The Bad Shepherd - The Bad Sh...
180424   Impulse - Impulse( Blu Ray)
170424   Jan Jelinek - Social Engine...
170424   Carlos “Zíngaro”, Guilherme R...
160424   The Borderlands - The Borderl...
160424   Rien - The New Source Recording
160424   Worship - Thoughts
150424   Lion-Girl - Lion-Girl(Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom