One of the greatest things to me about the more focused side of Death/Doom is that it doesn’t need to over stay it’s welcome, Low knows where that balance is at on ‘Through the Pentagon into Mass Submission’.
The majority of this EP operates on grimy, extremely downtuned chugging and a midpaced headbanging tempo that sits perfectly. These vocals mirror this, with most of the songs consisting of deep, murky lows with high pitched yells, which feels a bit more cut throat than muddy at times. At no point is anything too refined which has a positive impact to keep this swampy, rancid sound what it is.
My favorite quality here is that the aggression here isn’t one dimension as the band is good at taking it away at certain points, allowing the guitar to chop away and surround the lead with atmosphere. This is particularly evident in ‘In Sickness We Trust’; the riff chugs on this are just low and nasty, with some darker tones laid underneath the murky vocals with such grimy effect. There are shades of Incantation in the downtuned riffing and cavernous feel, while some of the uglier, sludge soaked sections bring Autopsy to mind.
Low isn’t hiding any intent to bore the listener with countless extremely slow passages. The riffs retain a motion required for the listener to feel an impact. ‘Through the Pentagon into Mass Submission’ is dark and satisfying. If you enjoy Death/Doom of a groove laden style with added muck and sludge, check this one out.
