ATAVIST II: Ruined (2007) CD

Some records are not meant to be listened to so much as survived. Atavist's II: Ruined is one of those records.

Released in 2007 out of the UK, this is sludge and doom pushed to the edge of collapse, six untitled tracks clocking in at well over an hour of slow-motion devastation. The tracklist doesn't bother with conventional naming, which tells you something about the intent. Rose Kemp contributes additional vocals on the second track, her presence adding an eerie, ghostly quality to the wreckage. Justin Greaves of Crippled Black Phoenix handles piano on the fourth, and that contrast of delicate instrumentation against the surrounding density is genuinely unsettling. This is not background music. It demands your full attention and a decent amount of psychic tolerance for low-end punishment. The dark aesthetic here is not costumed, it is structural.

CD, 2007, UK. Sludge/Doom. Tracklist: I (3:04) / II feat. vocals by Rose Kemp (15:19) / III (17:40) / IV feat. piano by Justin Greaves (7:05) / V (16:52) / VI (6:23).

Fans of: Culted, Alkerdeel, Tombs, Ascend, Bloody Panda, Hyatari