Piper Haqim
If anyone ever had a template for a perfect epic doom album, it’s this album right here. A Haunting, choking, blanket of fear descending down on you.
Favorite track: Obsess and Regress.
enwyld93
The Opener is a huge Neck Breaker and it keeps rolling on. The last Track calm and harmonic. Perfect Ending. Love it, Great Work!
Favorite track: As Titans.
British epic doom metallers Godthrymm (featuring members once involved in such luminaries as My Dying Bride, Anathema, Vallenfyre, and Solstice) return with their new album, Distortions. The follow-up to 2020’s widely-lauded Reflections shows the Halifax-based quartet of Hamish Glencross (guitars/vocals), Catherine Glencross (keyboards/vocals), “Sasquatch” Bob Crolla (bass), and Shaun “Winter” Taylor-Steels (drums) elegantly expanding upon their sound and vision. With tracks like “Follow Me,” featuring former My Dying Bride compatriot Aaron Stainthorpe, “Echoes,” and “Devils,” Distortions advances Godthrymm into the hallowed halls of the genre they adore to death.
“I absolutely wanted to create a much more layered and complex arrangement in the sound,” says Godthrymm’s Hamish Glencross. “Totally amping up the contrasts to the extreme—the light shines brighter, and the darker depths are vast trenches. There is a lot more harmony and melancholy for much of it, but also some slab-heavy riffing, too. We wanted a total progression in the production and more class and clarity in the sound, as opposed to Reflections, which could get quite dense in tone.”
Distortions is the second part of Glencross’ Visions trilogy—the third part, Projections, is already in the works. Throughout its seven-track, hour-long expanse, Godthrymm’s sophomore effort delves deeper into the despondent march of post-pandemic singles “Chasm” and “In Perpetuum,” the latter released exclusively on Decibel Magazine’s Decibel Flexi Series in 2022. Glencross’ emotionally-charged vocals pair perfectly with his towering riffs and thoughtful, crestfallen harmonies. The rhythmic foundation of Crolla and Taylor-Steels is absolutely critical to Glencross’ woebegone éclat. With Catherine Glencross’ angelic vocals and atmospheric keyboards stitched into the monumental “As Titans,” the granite-hard “Obsess and Regress,” and the stirring “Pictures Remain,” Distortions has it all.
“The songwriting for Distortions began during the first lockdown,” Glencross says. “That inspired me to start writing and recording at home, and that structure helped define how we would ultimately write the album. It was very much isolated for the most part, though. I would write and record the first arrangement of a song and then send it through to the others, who would record their parts and send them back. Then, it would be a case of refining and rewriting as inspired by the contributions of everyone. Only one song, ‘Devils,’ was written in the rehearsal room before the rest of the album.”
For an album centered lyrically on grief, loss, regret, resolve, love, and determination, it’s hard to imagine something inexplicably heavy yet remarkably beautiful. Producer Andy Hawkins (Hark, Grave Lines) was the perfect man for the job. Spread across The Nave Studio in Leeds and Sasquatch Music Studio in Huddersfield, he captured Godthrymm at their most menacing (“Unseen Unheard”) and vulnerable (“Follow Me”). The tones he extracted from Glencross, Crolla, and Taylor-Steels absolutely crush, while the brighter moments (like Catherine Glencross’ spell-binding vocals on “Obsess and Regress”) splinter Godthrymm’s disheartened darkness in two. Distortions was mastered by Mark Midgley (Doom, Hellkrusher) for Northern Mastering Co.
“I wanted the production to match the care and attention put into the writing of the music,” says Glencross. “I think we’ve achieved that with Andy. The guitar tones are more amp driven than pedal-driven. It simultaneously sounds huge, but there’s space in there too. Nothing is fighting for space, which I think happened somewhat with the last album, which got a bit too dense. This album has clarity as well as weight. I was incredibly amazed by everyone’s dedication and hard work in turning in such wonderful performances. I am incredibly lucky to be working with such wonderful people.”
For a band that formed in 2017, Godthrymm are on an impressive run. Not only have they proven to be a formidable live act—invites to Bloodstock Open Air, In Flammen Open Air, and Tomorrow’s Ghost Festival are but the beginning—but the group’s prolific output of three EPs, two singles, and two full-length albums have also repositioned England as the epicenter of high-quality, epic-sounding doom metal. The cover art by Andy Green (My Dying Bride, Strangeways) is simply a force multiplier. All eyes are on Godthrymm with Distortions.
“I hope we continue to evolve and progress,” Glencross says. “The sound is decidedly more complete [on Distortions] than the previous incarnations, which are quite primitive. I hope people connect with the passion and love we have put in. The themes are universal and eternal. I’m very grateful and touched any time anyone appreciates our work.”
credits
released August 18, 2023
Recorded between The Nave Music Studio, Sasquatch Music Studio, and The Glencross Residence at various points in 2022.
Mixed by Andy Hawkins.
Produced by Andy Hawkins and Hamish Glencross.
Mastered by Mark Midgley @ Northern Mastering Company.
Artwork and Design by Andy Green (iniquitous.co.uk).
Additional guitar on "Obsess and Regress" by Al Kotwal.
Guest vocals on "Devils" by Polly-Jean and Maggie Glencross.
Guest vocals on "Unseen Unheard" by Scoot Gladok.
Guest vocals on "Follow Me" by Aaron Stainthrope.
What an impressive piece of black metal. This one-man hurricane is pure art. Sgah‘gahsowáh creates an haunting atmosphere. He puts so much soul in his music. Sælzer Bub
A bewitching imagining of black metal lore set in the old American west. You can positively inhale the aura of despair and thick smoke that this record evokes. Grim cinematic atmosphere transmogrified into music. bloodbrulee
Extremely inventive and multifaceted sci-fi prog death, just like iridescent ethereal world on the cover art. Best band's achievement up to date. And easily in 2023 AOTY list Dmitry Nevozhay
Philadelphia upstarts Crypt Sermon cleave yet another epic slab o' doom full of fantastical thrills and kickass solos. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 25, 2019
Blackbraid quickly followed up their 2022 debut in 2023 with more native folk infused furious black metal. This is by no means a sophomore slump as it is equally excellent, methodical, melodical, and approachable as the first record. 9/10 RJ