Published: December 19, 2015

Spanish death-doom band Womb (not to be confused with the US stoners of the same name) have gritted their teeth and given birth to an album of emotional intensity and interweaving melody.

Part of a triumphant new partnership between doom labels Hypnotic Dirge (Canada) and Solitude Productions (Russia), the debut album from this Seville-based outfit is a mixed bag of complex, sour doom metal. It is sometimes vast and spectacular, other times tangled and uncertain.

The media promo info promises “catchy riffs, dense guitars and a sensual side” – and at least two of these are questionable. Generally, the slowly twisting riffs are about as catchy as a mountain (although the epic standout track ‘March’ does have a certain memorable quality).

The guitar tones are frequently airy and crisp rather than suffocatingly dense or heavy. In fact, the album might be even more forceful and effective if some fuzz and/or low-end was added to the mix.

There is, however, a concerted effort to explore a wide range of emotions, which results in an album of scope, texture and imagination.

There are moments of sheer, ululating brilliance, such as halfway through ‘Equidistant’ where the gates of Hell open up and eternal woe is unleashed upon your ear holes. But there are also periods of drifting banality, such as the shapeless ‘Forgotten By Her Bliss’.

Getting this album released in physical format has taken an impressive global effort, and the world should be thankful to all those concerned. Not least of all the gifted group of misery-mongers who have given life to this finely-crafted and tasteful slab of Spanish sorrow.