Cancervo - III

Cancervo is a doom metal band from Italy who formed in 2020.  “III” is, well, their third full-length album.  According to their metallum page, Monte Cancervo is a mountain near Bergamo.  With that in mind, I have to say they could not have picked a better name for their band because, simply put, “III” definitely weighs as much as a mountain.

The band’s style includes psychedelic and stoner elements, both of which blend into a massive wall of sound that is quite towering.  Stoner doom isn’t always known to be heavier than the universe but “III” begs to differ—Cancervo have definitely released one of the heaviest albums I have heard in this first quarter of the year.

The fuzz on the bass alone is heavier than even many extreme metal albums I’ve heard this year.  The production helps with this; it sounds great but just raw and DIY enough to give the album a dark, occult feel.  Honestly, the album is a little scary.

The album opens with an intro which is very funeral in nature and the last note on the organ leads perfectly into the first full track, “Sacrilegious Mass.”

The beginning is a sweltering mix of Luka’s bass and Francesco’s guitars. Luka’s vocals come in and add another layer of immense pressure.  His voice is deep, loud, and moves along with the riffs.  Sam’s drums are not unlike a freight train, meaning they are heavy, focused, and just don’t quit.  

Around the 2:22 mark, a guitar solo cuts through the wall of distortion, adding psychedelic notes to the mix which makes the song both heavier and more twisted all at the same time.  A faster solo in the later half of the song actually makes the slow music a little disturbing and adds some urgency while still keeping the tempo doomed.

“Burn Your Child,” opens with a killer riff and well timed drums.  There is something Gothic and messed up with Luka proclaiming “Burn your child,” and then suddenly the song speeds up after a primordial scream.  Is stoner doom supposed to generate horrific images and be unnerving?  Because I like what this band is doing, very against the grain. 

The movement from 5:37 to all the way to the end is a total groove fest, a nonstop banger of a moment.

“St. Barnabas,” is just how doom should be played: slow, dark, and fuzz that vibrates the bones themselves.  The echo on the vocals is a nice effect, just adds to the dismal atmosphere.  Their cadence is chant-like, mysterious and shamanistic which could be said of the album as a whole as well.  The bass is ridiculously heavy after the halfway point, as are the drums.  I liked the final minute and a half of the song a whole lot, the guitars bring in a climax of rising action as the whole band comes together for a very surreal moment.

The final song is “Red Pig,” and it is a monster.  The guitars are as thick as molasses and could probably destroy the mountain of their namesake if the speakers were placed just right.  This is a fitting song to end the album because it offers a very full sound.  

Most impressive is that after spending about three minutes destroying everything, the carnage rests for a minute through a clean interlude section that fits the mood of the song but offers a different perspective.  After this is over, the band seems even more intense—the rest of the song is CRUSHING.

All in all, Cancervo’s “III” is a very solid album because it sounds so different from a lot of stoner/psychedelic doom I've heard this year.   “III” embraces the dark and delivers a very enticing, if wild and petrifying, journey.