There are many interesting bands out there today. Back in 1992 I came upon an album from UK’s Sonic Violence called Transfixion. They were an industrial doomy band and the music was heavy distorted bass guitar, drums, samples and vocals. Devoid of guitar, it did not bother me, and that album is still in rotation for me on a yearly basis.

I would eventually do vocals for the Long Island NY, experimental band, Dystopia One, on their second album, Attempted Mustache. Another weird, but awesome band, that did not feel the need to have guitars in the music and it was fine with me. Great act. Fast forward to the present day, New York-based band Bog Body, who have been around a few short years, and Cryonic Crevasse Cult their debut album-a band incorporating heavily distorted bass, vocals and drums. You guessed it-no guitar.

This two-piece offers up a slab of doom, sludge death metal with “Paralytic Pit Of Swallowed Graves” opening up the album with a fast section. The absence of the guitar does not matter as the fuzzy/heavily distorted bass is so damn heavy it will shake your sub woofers. The vocals come in during the slower part and are a bit of a raspy black metal tone. The song picks up pace again, slows down and the vocals alternate between death metal and black metal. Both band members do vocals, by the way, so this makes sense. The jumpy 2.35 section is so freaking heavy it borders on the ridiculous and then the song picks up a faster pace and slows to that jumpy moment and then ends the way it started and the slower section, again will rattle and collapse your chest cavity.

“Dregs Soar To The Skies” is up next and is so heavy and doomy. The vocals are cavernous with the deeper parts and the raspier section in the background work great. The tune is so dirgy and the isolated bass guitar at around the 2.05 section will have you thinking Mortician/Napalm Death with the monstrous distortion. I think if the band had a guitarist the music would not be as heavy. The guitar would get completely drowned out with the bass guitar. This is a smart choice for the band to exclude the guitar on the album.

“Ice Stained Kurgan” is the longest track on the album at 5.35 the song wastes no time with the down-tuned bass and sludgy doom-death moment. A short while later they whip into a faster part with the dual vocals and the speed is like an older school 80’s/early 90’s death metal speed-no blasting. The song then meanders into this meaty, lengthy instrumentation passage. It has the dense and super thick heaviness that encompasses the name Bog Body to the proverbial T. This section is crazy heavy. The song picks up speed and then slows back down to this death-doom crawl that is eerie, dark and atmospheric. Truly an excellent song and I am impressed at this point by this album.

Cryonic Crevasse Cult‘s title track starts with an almost typical speed, reminiscent of late 80’s death metal. It’s truly a headbanger of a tune and then yep… you guessed it the slow down. And I do mean SLOW DOWNNNNNNNNNN………..Right before the 3-minute mark the dirgy heaviness is on full display.. This includes some weird effects and the rhythm section is on fire. It’s simple, heavy and kinda evil, if you ask me. It’s also really catchy as the bass guitar incorporates certain chords, almost being played as if it was a regular electric guitar, therefore the bass guitar riffs truly shine on this track.

“Mystery Of The Yaghan Bones” has an interesting opening moment with the song getting faster and slower. The pattern is non-linear and may throw some off. A distorted isolated bass guitar moment comes in and this is the Holy Shit moment. It gets right into a groove passage, if you will. I would definitely suggest the band opening their live set with this song. You will get the crowd moving to this track. It’s heavy, doomy and has elements of groove. It’s slick.

The rest of Cryonic Crevasse Cult is just as killer. This band is heavy and sure there are some Autopsy influences here and there, but by and large I find Bog Body a breath of fresh air in an overly saturated scene. They significantly stand out in the type of metal they play and I am wayyyy looking forward to more releases from Bog Body. If you enjoy super heavy doom death with a bottom end heavier than all your in-laws after a Thanksgiving Feast than NY’s Bog Body must be on your list as soon as you finish reading this review. Great debut album!

[Visit the band's website]

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