SPECTRAL TOWER
Spectral Tower
Self-released (2014)
Rating: 8/10
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The whispers on the doom metal underground suggested that the debut offering from two-piece band Spectral Tower was going to one worth checking out, so I scrambled from my leafy throne in order to snap this one up. Very little is known about the duo named Jeff Lurie and Dane Adair but we do know that they come from San Luis Obispo in California.
This six-track record runs for a shade over 30 minutes and to put it simply, if you’re a fan of sprawling, crawling atmospheric doom metal then this should more than make you happy… or sad, depending on what you like to gain from doom metal albums.
The record opens with the comic echoes of ‘Artifacts’, an esoteric meander through cold, dim passages of time with a soundtrack of stirring, chilly guitars and guttural vocals which echo throughout the cave. As one can imagine, it’s not the paciest of tracks but such is its clandestine vibe that it’s hard to not be moved by the intriguing play of guitars and gothic atmospherics. To me, this is real funereal doom that rarely labours despite having the guile of a snail trapped in ice. The vocals are organic and creepy as they murmur with grim narration alongside some extremely interesting structures and it certainly bodes well for the rest of the opus.
Next up we have ‘Mountain Throne’ which begins with a burst of pace, if we can actually call it that, but as it lowers into a grey haze one can see the flames of the candle you’ve just lit dancing in strain against the cold air the band have just created. There is a real sombre air about this composition and I’d love to take my hat off to them, but the falling temperatures that the drums have created do not allow me to perform such an act.
The band trudge on through the ill-lit tunnels like some ominous bestial fog consuming all in its wake amid some creepy clicks and clatters before the seven-minute ‘Elder Birth’ joins the fray like some gaseous succubus oozing up the bed.
I’m unsure how these guys create such dismal scenes but they certainly live up to their name, worming their way almost beyond the realm of doom metal because they rarely rely on weight to make their point. Instead, Spectral Tower are a phantasmal force with stony hints of black metal in their soundscapes, while also being progressive and, dare I say it, original as they drift along throwing in touches of gothic menace (‘Tryptic’) and expansive eeriness. If anything, the vocals here, despite their grimace, are at times not required such is the ability of this team to conjure up such vast and jam-packed soundscapes of slow-motion surrealism. And as ‘Departure’ leaves its icy trail I’m quite happy to be frozen by this beautiful thing that we know as Spectral Tower.
Neil Arnold
