RECITATION - Carrion [LP]

Carrion is the debut LP by Denmark-based psychedelic sludge metal trio, RECITATION. The disturbing, low-end demoralization RECITATION perpetuates drags down-tuned doom riffage and earthmoving percussion through the outer fringes of death metal, jacking every moment full of dread. Fueled by maggot-infested and feedback-soaked crust/sludge tactics and mega-guttural vocal depravity, the band still jacks their music up with a cosmic, psychedelic vibe, resulting in output that is as devastating as it is mind-bending. RECITATION’s debut album consists of one twenty-seven-minute track -- the uncompromising “Carrion” -- yet this solitary movement does not grow repetitive, bland or complacent. Instead, it writhes, morphs and consumes everything in earshot; the musical equivalent of an all-consuming supernova. Thematically, RECITATION’s Carrion LP deals with the human feelings of meaninglessness and depression when confronted with the harsh reality of inevitable decay and death – a basic condition for all flesh that inhibits the earth and beyond. The album is a dark and feverish journey undertaken to a music of demise – a crushing, monotonous movement through a desperate musical night, where the riffs rise as monoliths of death, telling a tale of what little time we are given. The voyage can be described as a non-linear composition consisting of a series of repetitive progressions giving way to the vibe, the riff and a slow crushing feel in a way that conjures up an experience of stretching time and presence. It’s music working on another level of being – metaphysical and yet very present in the earthly life. It’s a journey that you undertake, painfully aware, while led astray – a journey we all have to take. Carrion sees release via Copenhagen-based extreme DIY label, Indisciplinarian, in a run of 300 copies on black vinyl with the label’s US partner, Earsplit Distro, handling stateside mailorder. [Indisciplinarian]