Look, if you’re going to call your album something steeped in doom and gloom, your music better fit the walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And Libbianski’s new EP has a sound which certainly lives up to its simple title: Suffering.
The New Zealand doomgaze band has received accolades for their heavy sound on previous records, but on Suffering, they turn the darkness up to an (until now) unforeseen level. You would not imagine this onslaught of sound came from a trio, but lo, the sonic rush comes from the power of Nat Hill’s uninhibited vocals, Kurt Williams’ blazing guitar symphony, and Tom LaHatte smashing the drums with as much force as humanly possible.
It’s winter down in the Southern hemisphere right now, but on Suffering, Libbianski do their damnedest to set everything in their path on fire. From the opening track “One Day Before”, Hill and Reid trade vocal responsibilities, or rather, showcasing their abilities in guttural scream-singing, which are important in any doom-based subgenre. The instrumentals on this song set the tone for the rest of the EP, which further attacks with “Misplacement”, a track that puts LaHatte’s blast beats at center stage.
On “The Northerners” and “Today Becomes Tomorrow”, Libbianski shows their eclectic musicality, toying with unconventional chord modulations and atonal composition while still introducing a bit of melody for some catchiness. Only for the last track “Ashtown” is there any sense of slowing down: It begins with a guitar solo and a clear tone, suggesting a more peaceful ending to the album. However, it doesn’t last long: Although the tempo remains, the echoing wails of Reid and Hill enter with the smashing drums, rounding out Suffering with almost the same level of heaviness with which it began.
There is no break on the new EP from the sound suggesting pain, destruction, and overall ennui. Libbianski’s increased heaviness on this album symbolizes the blackness of the holes in one’s soul, the dearth of emotion that leads to a negative overflow and causes the heart to erupt. To be fair: These days, the world has given folks even more reasons to want to scream as loud as Reid, to shred their fingers like Hill, and break things as loud and as heavy as LaHatte smashes the drums. And there is something healing in carrying out that desire.
But one cannot always break things in response to the world’s many injustices. Hopefully, a listen through Suffering can suffice as a solid salve for simmering rage. Check out the new EP below:
Written by Will Sisskind
