Oakeater - Molech [Nihilist Records - 2008]Molech offers up two long tracks of dense, droning, ritualistic and sinister sound soups built around a fearful mix of organ textures muffled creepy occultic voices, ominous field recordings, slight percussive dread and blacked guitar pitchers. Oakeater are a three piece who come from Chicago and feature Seth (Coughs, Panicsville), Jeremy (Panicsville) and Alex (Ex-Bret Gand is Dead) Molech is their debut vinyl only release on Andy Ortmann's label. The two tracks are a mix of dark and fairly organic sounding ritual ambience & stretched industlized blacked metal tones, which stick mainly to the drone/ ambient format with the guitar parts been more as grim texture than played notes. Both tracks start sliding in slowly and sinisterly like a blacked blade into your mind and then slowly but surely building up tension and fear. At times this rather brought to mind a more drawn out, nasty and rough around the edger’s version of cyclobe horricific sound world. I think of the two tracks the first one is more interesting, eerier and ultimately horrifying with it’s dense and creep mix of raven calls, wind in the tree tones, occultic/ demonic voices and organ/guitar mix. It really summons up feeling akin to that of the Evil Dead films when there at their most creepy and dread filled- giving a really tangible feeling of woodland occultic tinged fear & pain. A promising and dark beginning from this project that I can see appealing to fans of more active and crude ambience as well as those who enjoy more darkened drone mettlic fair too. Roger Batty
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