Old Man Gloom - Christmas (2004)

Let it be known, I am the king of procrastination. While further putting of grad school letters of intent, I am trying to breathe some life back into the blog. My loss is your gain. Lately I have found my musical tastes have had a strong influence of heavy music, albeit doom, stoner, and black metal to really heavy hardcore. This probably has something to do with the band that I am, which also prescribes to that cornucopia of genres. It has been rather gratifying, introducing my palate to new bands, such as Bone Awl, Midnight, and revisiting older bands.

One such band would be the veritable supergroup/conglomeration/collective, Old Man Gloom. Not only have Old Man Gloom's members done time in several bigger aggressive bands, but they have this wonderfully mysterious philosophy that surrounds the band. The mysticism only furthers the wonderfully weird music, pushing it into a realm that surpasses the genres in blends.

Christmas was their last studio full length the band recorded, and probably their best. I was sold on this band the first time I heard "Gift", the opening track. It is a sludgy mess of a song that has a weird primeval acoustic/chanting opening. The sonic power emitted from song once the primitive intro explodes into the main part of the song is incredible, pure sonic weight here. And it doesn't let up from there, in between ambient and very creepy interludes are more songs that bend genres and exert their weight on your ears. "Valhalla" is another great track, starting as a heavy hardcore/sludge song only to transform into an instrumental that sounds like it is being played by norse gods. That is seriously the only way I could describe that ending riff.

Old Man Gloom is apparently still a band/institution. Still hell bent on spreading their evil all over the world, though the beast has been silent, aside from reissues, since 2004. If you enjoy any sort of heavy, aggressive music, you will enjoy this record. Spread the gloom.

Tracks:

1. Gift
2. Skullstorm
3. Something for the Mrs.
4. Sleeping with Snakes
5. Lukeness Monster
6. 'Tis Better to Receive
7. Accord-O-Matic
8. The Volcano
9. Close Your Eyes, Roll Back Into Your Head
10. Girth and Greed
11. Sonic Dust
12. Valhalla
13. Christmas Eve parts I, II, & III (alt Version)

This is a gift.