Collapsed Vein - Pain Communion

Collapsed Vein is a solo US based death-doom project from Kevin George.  He started the project in 2013 and is now taking shape to be released this April with the stunning debut album “Pain Communion.”  

This is exactly the kind of death doom I like:  slow, nasty, and abysmal.  The album’s sulphuric riffs are a slow grind of darkness so thick that it's nearly palpable. Seriously, the production on this album is FANTASTIC.  It sounds absolutely bottomless, just a sea of endless despair.  With a good pair of headphones on, it will seem as if it's being played live in your living room. 

There is an odd sort of ambience/melody to the songs which gives the entire album a truly dangerous, unsettling feeling.  Have you ever been stalked by an unstoppable force of destruction, knowing that whatever you do won’t be enough to keep it from sending you to an endless void of unfathomable blood-soaked nightmares?  Oh, you haven’t?  Well, if it does happen to you then this album will be the soundtrack to that. 

With 10 songs and a runtime of a little under an hour, I don’t think it’s overly long for a doom metal album.  If anything, it gets to the point surprisingly quickly with the opening song, “Cadaver Synod.” Immediately the sulphuric riffs hit, twisting and turning this desolate landscape into a barren land of waste. The keys are subtle but very potent, adding a big funeral doom element to the song.  Slow songs can be unrelenting—and this one just doesn’t stop. 

I like how the album isn’t afraid to mix it up.  Doom isn’t always about crushing riffs— "Deviant Burial,” opens with bass and some psychedelic tendencies before a spine tingling roar drops the hammer.   This song sounds uneasy and sickening; the bass drops are perfectly placed alongside the clean guitar to break up the heavier parts while still keeping the flow.  That’s one of the key factors of the album too—-how well it flows.  It may be slow but it isn’t plodding or boring.  

“Inevitable End,” throws in a twist with a short but intricate clean intro before diving headfirst into the doomed out carnage.  The vocals are particularly violent, and ride off the riffs with snarling menace.  In the undercurrent of the song, there exists what amounts of melody and it adds a potent, atmospheric layer to the song. 

Collapsed Vein is also very adept at using its crushing heaviness to expand its emotive responses, such as with “Overwhelmed With Bereavement.” The pure sonic excess it’s overwhelming, a wave of emotional seas cresting against the hardened wall of infinite sadness.   

The final song, ‘The Devils Orchard,” is unrelenting yet introspective and spacious.  The use of clean tones/liminal spaces/keys in this track is clever and makes the whole song that much more intense.

All in all, Collapsed Vein’s “Pain Communion,” is one hell of a debut that effectively combines deep emotions with intense death doom.  I can’t wait to see what else the project does in the future!  Recommended! 

Rating:  Excellent