It’s a good time for nihilistic heaviness at the moment. The new Neurosis record has just dropped (review here) and, following in its wake, the world is plunged into ever more disturbingly powerful territory with the release of 'Widowmaker'. Dragged into Sunlight’s debut record was deranged enough to drive an alligator to a lunatic asylum, but 'Widowmaker' really takes the biscuit. Comprised of one forty minute track, this is about as close to easy listening as George Osborne is to being named ‘Britain’s Favourite Politician’.
Divided into vaguely definable sections, 'Widowmaker' at least starts slowly. Nonetheless the ominous air produced early on leaves you under no illusions and, sure enough, when the kick into suffocating heaviness arrives, it is almost painfully brutal. If their top secret identities and serial killer speech samples were not enough, the vocals sound like they are being sung by a man whose throat has been put through several shredders. The use of added instrumentation such as strings is a key factor in making this forty minute track listenable. Their unexpected presence sounds not at all out of place, but is of significant enough interest to be another significant point of interest.
Perhaps the only thing that prevents 'Widowmaker' reaching the most desolate lows imaginable is its length. Sure, this is an incredible piece of music, and proves that Dragged into Sunlight have plenty of ambition behind their horrific noise, but this track perhaps loses a little of the terror exuded by the band’s debut record, 'Hatred for Mankind'. 'Widowmaker' is a dense, claustrophobic listen but there are a few moments when the attention may waver in a way that ever so slightly undermines their fury.
Having said that, this is still one of the finest metal releases of the year, and provides further evidence of Dragged into Sunlight’s position as key standard bearers for what is truly ‘extreme’. You can keep your poser corpse painted black metal for as long as you want; this is where extremity is really at.
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Divided into vaguely definable sections, 'Widowmaker' at least starts slowly. Nonetheless the ominous air produced early on leaves you under no illusions and, sure enough, when the kick into suffocating heaviness arrives, it is almost painfully brutal. If their top secret identities and serial killer speech samples were not enough, the vocals sound like they are being sung by a man whose throat has been put through several shredders. The use of added instrumentation such as strings is a key factor in making this forty minute track listenable. Their unexpected presence sounds not at all out of place, but is of significant enough interest to be another significant point of interest.
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