Light - A Million Dead beneath the Ice (C)

Now here's an album that came to me by surprise. I was checking my usual blogs, and one of them had a review of this two-piece outfit from Iowa which ticked all the right boxes for me. I decided to give them a check out, and purchase a couple albums since I couldn't pass up on an album for which "All the CD cases are all handmade and numbered, and the CD itself is smeared with menstrual blood..." Well my blind-buy paid off and I managed to score a class album (Not that I was expecting any less). Light manage to put themselves somewhere between Worship and Skepticism on A Million Dead Beneath the Ice, plodding hopelessly towards droning destruction. The organ-tinted funeral doom creates a creepy apocalyptic atmosphere that perfectly fits titles such as "When the Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", "When the Flood Waters come Rushing In" and "When Biting Winds Slice Across the Prairies, They Will Carry the Seeds of Death Upon Them". Each track is interspersed with very sparse percussion and vocals that manifest as shrieks, howls, moans, wails, and infernal growling which manage to tell a story of a world speeding steadily towards the end. And it must be said that though this album is choc-full of funeral doom and drone, it also contains slight hints here and there of plenty of other influences that come and go like a stranger's hand gently caressing your neck when you least expect it. This album may not be easy for everyone to digest, but is definitely recommended for fans of funeral doom, drone, and people into the outlook of crust-punk and bands like Sterbend or Silencer (Though certainly not terribly similar music-wise to the latter if you find that to be a turn-off.). This album comes highly recommended, and luckily for everyone it is also available for free on their myspace!

www.myspace.com/greenmidwesternsky