‘The Tunnels’ is the untamed, noisy, gloomy and depressed first work of this radical and vanguard noise band TERRA TENEBROSA from Stockholm, Sweden. The overall sound of the trio – a direct descendant of the widely appreciated BREACH, by the way – is based on the repetitive, monotonously clanking percussion, which makes for a aseptic industrial feel. Above that reside these weird, distorted vocal contributions, flanked by diverse down tuned stringed instruments, which grub in dissonant anti-harmonies, as well as harsh synths, that cut through the thicket of sound like bright rays of hope. All these sonic aspects merge in and with each other to form a threatening blackened mist, leaving the listener behind in a mixture of inconvenience, alienation and derangement. The metal and hardcore roots of the ensemble can only be detected as rudimentary basis elements, buried under nightmarish noise textures and wrapped in a pitch-black coat. Reminiscent in sound and aesthetics of the early work of NEUROSIS. An astounding album!

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Darkness, despair, brutality – these are the coordinates between which the Italian formation LENTO, with the help of down tuned guitars, versatile riffing, intricate rhythms and exhausting slowness, builds a massive wall of sound. Brutally sludgy and monotonic parts, with their savvy, endlessly repeated rhythms, convey the impression that one is caught in a time warp. Playful noise offshoots, as well as ambient-like passages that repeatedly appear seamlessly between all the brutality, serve as moments of arousing from this sonorous hypnosis. The meandering between different moods and sound structures is what makes ‘Icon’ pleasantly varied and diverse. This is progressive sludge metal, reminiscent of the early creative stages of ISIS and CULT OF LUNA, without being a mere imitation of those classic bands. With interesting ideas, delicate details and exhilarant variety LENTO have managed to develop a quite distinct tone of their own.

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