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POSSESSOR
Electric Hell

Self-released (2014)
Rating: 9/10

Not to be confused with the generic Virginia-based US thrashers of the same name, this particular Possessor is one to keep a beady eye indeed.

This UK band was formed in December 2013 by a chap named Graham Bywater, and Electric Hell is Possessor’s debut full-length release which could be described as a strange, spooky amalgamation of sludge and thrash metal. I must admit that I never thought I would hear the day when a Slayer-esque riff would sound so comfortable alongside a dirty great stoner groove, but somehow this bunch of demented souls have found a weird niche.

The album comes hot on the hooves of the London-based band’s Wings Of Fire EP, and boasts nine tracks – all written by Bywater – which in total run for duration of just over half-an-hour. As you can see, the atmospheric cover artwork depicts three women (witches?) attired in white carrying flaming torches, and yet all is daubed in a strange, psychedelic purple hue. Of course, it’s nothing new to see a band so influenced by the esoteric and foggy folklore of its surroundings. After all, numerous bands over the last decade or so have adopted such ghoulish monikers and occult ideas – but not all have succeeded in entertaining. However, Possessor have a winning formula, which complete with eye of newt, tail of rat, wing of bat and wart of toad have been stirred together to make this rather engaging entry in the occult-drenched annals of metal lore.

And so we come to the bewitching contents; a litany of metallic, drudging spells concocted to drain the life from your sorry soul. The first of these bottomless pits of despair is the droning fuzz known as ‘Chasms Of Malice’, which thankfully – unlike a lot of sludge lords out there – is rather short and sweet, offering up a deep, churning dirty wave of doom which smother the remote yet almost punky vocal strains. The riff is wonderfully catchy and within the murk there exists that tumbling bass and persistent dogged drum.

Bizarrely, although the doom-laden leviathan is kept relatively simple by design it’s almost as if Possessor has dredged the depths of the 80s thrash metal catalogue and coated each burning lick in silt. This works wondrously as ‘Invisible Face’ comes trudging through the speakers like the bastard offspring of Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid, Green River, Prong, D.R.I. and with an extra pinch of dirty thrash mayhem.

So often I am bored to death by so-called “sludge metal”, but this record is in fact far removed because of its nifty nature. With a track such as ‘Castle Of Bastards’ we have any interesting industrialised buzzing vocal effect, meaning the sound has more in common with Canada’s avant-garde industrialists Malhavoc than anything relatively doomy, but there is still that gloomy riff of brooding throughout. Yes, there is still that strong occult rock feel – more so in the lyrics – but how can one argue with the macabre poetry of ‘Heavy Dreams’ which speaks of “Creatures in the trees” that “shake their skeleton keys” over a fuzzed-up bass-line and half-hinted psychedelic groan. Again, the riff is not cumbersome but somehow drifting into a trudging hardcore punch.

This is followed by one of the true purple highs of the album with the infectious fuzz of ‘Skeletal Form’; a slow burning, grimy churning track which lurches at the ears by way of a monstrous riff and nodding drum. As an instrumental it is bloated with suspense and morosely traipses across the horizon like a gang of gangly, soil-soaked skeletons eager for flesh.

I’m never sure how certain bands find their sound, and with Possessor you’ll be left wondering how something so simple can sound so innovative as they shift between foggy landscapes of mid-tempo motion and faster barrages of well-oiled grunge such as with the dirt frenzy that is ‘Face The Possessor’; a rotten punked-up swirl if ever there was one. Meanwhile, with the closing title track the mysterious combo resorts to that sludge-coated melancholy by way of a haunting drum chant and scheming guitar tone which just whines with malevolent intent throughout this abysmal instrumental dirge.

I can only tip my wizard’s hat in admiration for what Possessor has conjured up on this debut album. It’s not often that within such a genre you can struggle to find actual words or styles to categorise / describe such an eerie cacophony, but with Electric Hell Possessor have summoned some of the filthiest demons from the local peat bog to aid them in their quest to manifest a perfect blend of all that is murky about metal.

Neil Arnold

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