Hailing from mother Russia, Омут (Omut / “Slough”) is a solo black metal project that attempts to create nature inspired noisy black metal. Initially I was sold on the album cover and figured if someone put that much effort into just an album cover, the music had to be quality as well. Unfortunately that was not the case at all, like at all at all.
My main gripe with this album is the rawness of it all, perhaps I am not a big fan of this approach to black metal but I am a big fan of noise and power electronics, so it’s not a case of “oh it’s too noisy!”, but simply bad music. Much like any other raw black metal bedroom project, bass is nonexistent on this, and the guitars are so thin that it actually was painful to listen to with headphones. Imagine if guitar strings could be made from strips of aluminum foil, that’s exactly what the guitar tone sounds like to me. If “normal” effects were applied then the guitars would probably sound really interesting, for the guitar work itself on this release is interesting and catchy, it’s just so thinly projected that it destroys any redeeming qualities the actual playing and creativity have. The drumming is nothing to write home about either, for they are the epitome of rudimentary at best and it just really makes for a boring listen. The kick drum however manages to project some form of bass resonance, so I guess I should be thankful that there is SOME form of deepened sounds going on. The vocals however aren’t all that bad, they are your atypical raw depressive black metal tone and personally I am a fan of such vocals when done in the correct setting, but still, overall this album is just unlistenable to me.
I will however admit that there are some pretty neat introductions and sampling on this release, for example the intro on the second track ‘Твои бельма видят лучше их глаз’ sounds like it was recorded straight from a torture chamber in the Vatican. The third track also contains a cool intro that is a mixture of WWII marching anthems, knife sharpening and just raw and mechanic soundscapes reminiscent of an industrial plant. These parts of the album are actually enjoyable and if Omut were to release something that was strictly this material I would be very excited for it, it’s just the music before and after these samples is just horrendous to me.
SHIT RATING: BAD
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