Doubtsower - Nothing Reduced To Everything

Doubtsower is a one-man-band from Cardiff (Wales, UK) that plays experimental doom.  “Nothing Reduced To Everything,” is the project’s third full-length album.  The musician behind this mad but engaging brand of doom is Matt Strangis, who also plays bass for doom legends Pantheist and produces experimental electronic music under the allies “Kyam.” 

“Nothing Reduced To Everything,” is easily the most unique and out there doom album I have heard so far this year.  Honestly, when I first received the promo, I wasn’t sure if this was something I would like.  But I didn’t get myself, or the band, enough credit.  Simply put, this album is absolutely fantastic.

Yes, it is weird.  It is out there.  It takes the lines of doom and not only does it step outside those boundaries but it completely destroys them.  But it’s also the definition of true underground music, doom or otherwise.  It is raw, uncompromising to the 10th degree and has a major DIY atmosphere to it that only adds to its charm.  While the experimental aspects are wild, this is still definitely a doom metal album but it also blends in blackened, post-metal, stoner and electronic experimentation.  The notes I received for the album described it as “a non-purist, yet reverential, take on doom metal.”  That is pretty damn accurate.   Oh and Esoteric’s Greg Chandler mastered the album so it sounds great and every strange detail is as vibrant and dynamic as the music itself.

The album opens with “Trampled Ideals Sold Cut-Price,’ and what I can only describe as a “mechanical storm” opens the song before giving way to clean tones.  Any good doom album has a fantastic bass for that heavy low end and this one is no different.  I love how the bass sounds so deep, perfect for lying just under the clean tones.   Electronic drum loops (I guess that is what they are called, I am definitely not familiar with the terms for electronic music) fills the background while death growls pierce through the veil.  It somehow words and is oddly satisfying to have these loops mixed in.  The electronic elements increase as sweltering funeral doom riffs suffocate the air.  Despite this oppressive layer, all the different sounds still shine through—a true mixture of styles. 

“Liars Cheers All,” is cavernous, what with the bass and growls hammering away while some weird noise that I can’t describe other than “deep bouncing” ricochets off the doom. The middle portion of the song switches from harrowing mountains of doom to a beautiful clean section that took me by surprise but at this point, nothing should be off the table. As this passage grows, it becomes stoner/psychedelic before fading to clean tones that, in turn, grow back into monster levels of heavy.   

As a “shorter” song, the title track is one the more direct songs on the album but direct is used very liberally here.  The simple usage of what I think is a clock ticking away adds a sense of urgency to the song even when the first half is slow, clean tones.  But time soon runs out when that doom hammer drops once again—truly this is a straight up fine example of how to do extreme doom.  As the song progresses, it grows more unhinged and disconnected.  Hmm..not so direct after all!  I was listening to this with some decent headphones and I thought my head was being sucked into a black hole.  That’s right.

I pulled my head out of the black hole but only to find it vibrant to the point of near implosion because of the rumbling and spacey intro to “Collective Sigh.”  This intro lasts about 1:48 seconds long and it is rather unnerving.  Some of the best riffs on the album appear after but the clean, almost alien tones, keep going.  The mixture is maddening, in a good way.  Trippy, heavy, experimental.  I would say this song is one of the best examples of the sound Matt was going for for the album.  The middle portion is off beat with masterful use of clean guitar and a killer solo…somehow it all sounds off kilter…again, in a good way.  The last few minutes are Esoteric mixed with Pink Floyd and I’m right here for it.  

“Exhausting Demands of Decency,” is one of the more atmospheric songs on the album, letting the post influences through.  This song is truly disturbing sounding and it should have been on the soundtrack to a crazy movie like Event Horizon.  It’s horrific, spacey, and there is no way to know what’s around the corner.  By the time the death growls kick in, I was already exhausted from my brain melting down out of fear but the extremity of the vocals work so well with the music that my fear just doubled.   I’ve only heard a few bands that I could describe as “frightening” and this song is definitely that.

Probably not surprising but parts of the final song, “The Burnt Witch Of Civilized Behaviour,” remind me of Pantheist because of how perfectly weaved into the fabric of the songs the keys are. The first half of the song is a mixture of weird soundscapes and out there textures that still sound cohesive and coherent in context of the song.  The heavy guitar is there as well and if anything this song really shows how well even a genre as despondent as doom metal can be mixed with more unconventional avenues. 

Doubtsower’s “Nothing Reduced To Everything,” is a truly unique, imaginative, and unconventional album that tries to make a lot of things works–and nails it every damn time.  This is one album that absolutely needs to be experienced, regardless of what style of music you like.