Cavern Deep - Part III-The Bodiless

Cavern Deep is a doom metal band from Sweden who formed in 2019.  Their latest release, “Part III-The Bodiless,” is their third full-length album.  I’ve been following these guys since their debut but haven’t reviewed them more.  “The Bodiless,” is a great release so I’m excited to finall be able to speak about them!

This is a deep album with a lot of depth; the good thing is, it’s somewhat ‘short’ for a doom album with just a 38 minute runtime.  The band uses their time well and not a second is wasted—as the minutes tick by, they push the music further down into the darkness.  The runtime makes it perfect to take this plunge over and over again.

It may go without saying considering their name but this album is dark and ultra heavy—cavernous is usually a word reserved for extreme death/doom or funeral doom bands but this music is as lightless and intense as anything in those genres.  Despite the claustrophobic, nightmarish atmosphere, the guitar solos can be quite emotional and moving. 

There is also a psychedelic feel to the songs too—mind losing its final grasps of humanity as your body is swallowed by the unfathomable darkness. As you can imagine, that is scary. I was jamming this on headphones and when someone turned off the light, I screamed and peed a little. Wait. I mean, that's what would happen if I listened in the dark. It most certainly didn't happen. Most certainly. 

Marty from Slomatics is featured as the vocalist on the opening song  “The Bodiless.”  His towering voice works perfectly with the slow, sludgy grind of the doom metal. The slow onslaught is as heavy as even the most extreme of metal—and the bass is like a fire breathing entity. The solo near the end is amazing–it fits into the atmopshere yet stands on its own.

The band is all about the riffs but that doesn't mean they can make clean tones work for them. The clean notes in “Queen Womb” are as nearly unnerving as vocalist/bassist Max's low and menacing vocals. Dennis gives quite the performance as well, keep his drums dialed in at all times but knowing when exactly he is needed to cut loose. 

Kenny shows his stuff on “Putrid Sentry” which brings thick, sweltering riffs that slowly burn their way through 7 minutes of pure doom fucking metal. The keys on this song are very unique and only add to the ever growing feeling of madness. 

“Moskstraumen,” is one of the most immediate on the album—the drums ramp up the energy early on while the the bass and guitars lay down a bed of riffs that are as deep as the sea. Martin Ludl offers up saxophone that finds it's home with the doom with little effort but massive performance. 

“Galaxies Collid,” is spacey and a little alien in the beginning, what with the clean tones in the front while the heavy ones build in the back.  The vocals add a tinge of meloncholy to the song, perhaps even a little Gothic. This song has a slightly different flavor to it but works amazingly well.

The instrumental “Full Circle,” is the album with a short but no less convincing display of the album’s elements that tie it all together. 

All in all, Cavern Deep's “Part III - The Bodiless” is a demanding journey into the heart of insane darkness.

Rating: Great