Review Summary: Exhale.
I feel a little misled with this one. With a name like Boghaunter and a title like Writhe, with tags like "death metal," "grindcore," and "sludge" on the BandCamp page, I was expecting some down and dirty, mean-spirited music. Think haarp or Toadliquor. I sat down with Writhe and was all prepped for an album that was gonna make me want to drink a bucket of bleach and puke my guts out onto whoever made the mistake of walking past my window. What I got was a downright gorgeous take on sludge/doom that, despite my different expectations, blew me away.
First thing's first. This is a short album. Two songs, 24 minutes. The opening track is a delicate little guitar riff that goes for a few minutes before even a hint of metal rears its head. Writhe does not stick around for long, but they make the most of their time. The first track is 15 minutes, the other is 9, and that's all you get. Don't worry though, both of these songs are full experiences in their own right.
It's actually rather odd how, despite all the elements of ugly metal being there, Boghaunter manages to be strangely serene, pretty even. The songs are built on minor key melodies and there's distortion and screaming aplenty, but I frequently found myself just resting back and letting out a relaxed sigh during Writhe's short runtime. Sigh is a good word, come to think of it, because the two songs have a distinct "breathing" structure to them. Stretches of acoustic melodies that alternate with large eruptions of distortion and distantly howled vocals. There are even clean vocals at times! These two sides of Boghaunter combine perfectly, though, with the softer sections creating a gloomy mood that releases its tension when the heavier side rears its head.
I've said it in other reviews, but music like this really relies on production. Since an album like Writhe isn't seeking to dazzle you with arpeggios and blistering drums, the mood needs to be set properly and a big part of that is the texture of the sounds themselves. Fortunately, Writhe succeeds at this. Not much to say, the instruments are all bell clear and balanced, everything sounds organic rather than digitized, and the weight of the music shines through.
The main knock here, really, is that it's so damn short. You can finish the whole album in the span of an episode of Bojack Horseman. Sure, Constellation Vows in particular goes through so many movements it almost feels like an entire album by itself, but a runtime this short feels like a tease more than a full release. Yes, I realize it's an EP, but come on. My ears have blue balls after this. But maybe that's a good thing, because it leaves the listener wanting more. Still, it's hard not to feel a bit gypped by two tracks.
Writhe is an emotional listen. Despite the song lengths, these aren't molasses-slow tempos. Not fast, but just a nice trudge forward. I have no idea why the album is tagged with "grindcore" and "thrash metal" because there isn't anything even resembling those two, or "death metal" for that matter. This is sludge and funeral doom. It's centered on a feeling of loss and grief, but somehow not purely in despair. The cleaner sections, and even that little bit at the end of track two, leave the listener feeling oddly uplifted. Like that big breath has been let out.
Boghaunter have set the bar pretty damn high for themselves. If they can pull off a full-length like this, it could be up in modern classic territory.
