Review Summary: Fun sludgy doom via London
Around the 1600's a few, now quite famous, thinkers began to believe contrary to previous generations that objects may have a tendency to maintain their velocity as opposed to a tendency to stop. This would become known today as Newton's First Law of Motion, (Newton here receiving the credit for what Descartes and Galileo came to believe earlier, albeit that's a different discussion entirely) however more simply put--inertia. That objects in motion tend to stay in motion and that is exactly what this London based, self-proclaimed "Occult Metal" outfit Possessor have in abundance. They rock hard, they rock heavy and they rock loud and once they get into a groove they have a tendency to maintain it.
Borrowing and sharing elements from several metal genres but most notably doom, sludge and stoner metal, Possessor's debut album Electric Hell is a half hour's worth of good old fashioned heavy metal. The riffs on the nine track record are drenched in fuzz, figuratively speaking, they just ooze the stuff like moldy produce. The bass guitar work is dense and thick, chugging along and keeps time along with the drums. The beginning of Electric Hell starts off thundering with steady riffs that get rolling once the drums kick in. The groove here is reminiscent of the 1990's southern metal scene in particular. The vocals just like the guitars are also drenched in effects or processing lending to the crypticness of the delivery. Some of the better tracks of the record are "Limb from Limb" and "Heavy Dreams", the former adding a nice touch of guitar and vocal melody to go along with the rhythm which rests comfortably in its doom soundscape. The latter being one of the longer numbers lets Possessor develop their songwriting a bit. Locking into their grooves, that of course being one of the highlights of the album, but as stated before once they latch on, they continue to carve and carve, without sacrificing any of the meatiness of the sound as showcased by the two shorter numbers sandwiched in between the aforementioned two tracks.
Electric Hell is not without its flaws though, the vocals specifically seem to possess this 'love or hate them' attitude. At times they compliment the songs quite well and at other times one wishes that they try and show some variation or would refrain from entering the song at all because the true star on the record is the instrumentation. Although, quite simple and straightforward for the most part, it has a catchy old school heavy metal vibe to it. The songs do tend to blend into each other and by the time the album is winding down one might be getting sick of the repetitiveness, however and this is where the band really should be focusing their next efforts--the experimentation of the last three tracks. The instrumental "Skeletal Form" shows the band isn't just a one trick pony and is capable of arranging and composing more daring and overall, more enjoyable listening experiences. Bringing in some unexpected thrash style riffs and some of the better guitar leads (that aren't buried too deep in the mix like some of their previous songs) allows the listener to just bathe in the head banging goodness of the track.
The closing two songs "Face the Possessor" and title track "Electric Hell" finish off the album on the high note provided by the instrumental. The first incorporating more syncopated rhythms and an guitar solo to their sound and the second continuing in the experimental vein of "Skeletal Form". The title track provides that eerie doom atmosphere that lends itself well to the occult stylings of the band. Electric Hell is a great listen to just throwback a couple of beers, shoot the *** and rock out to. It is flawed but for a debut LP it has some good things going for it, including its overall fun factor.
