I’ve always felt that the best doom bands are the ones who don’t play doom alone. Any knucklehead with a guitar and amplifier can play down tuned riffs at snail’s pace. It takes some thinking outside the box to do something meaningful with those riffs. The Obsessed added flourishes of Hendrix flavored psychedelia. Trouble co-opted the aggression of the burgeoning thrash metal scene. Candlemass incorporated vast atmospheres and fantastical lyrics, creating their own subgenre in the process of doing so (epic doom metal). Bottomless carries on this grand tradition of doom bands who can do more than just be doom bands.
Bottomless can bring the doom when they have to. There are plenty of moments throughout their self titled debut album in which they do so, such as “Ash”, “Loveless Reign”, and “Cradling Obsessions”. While these songs are the most orthodox and straightforward on here, they don’t come off as your run of the mill doom metal dirges. “Cradling Obsessions” in particular comes off like a lost Scott Reagers era Saint Vitus headbanger. Frontman Giorgio Trombino unleashes a twin attack of chugging riffs and melodically woeful vocals. He’s able to adjust both his guitar playing and vocal delivery for each song and style on here.
“Monastery” and “Vestige” tap into the aforementioned Obsessed psychedelic vein. The band’s incorporation of melodic guitar flourishes and Cream influenced musicianship makes for a highly enjoyable doomed out trip. Cream aren’t the only late 60s proto-metal pioneers channeled on this release. The band’s namesake anthem, “Bottomless”, has a soulful quality reminiscent to Blue Cheer. This is especially evident in Trombino’s vocals, which sound eerily similar to the late Dickie Peterson.
When they aren’t balancing the line between psych and doom, Bottomless goes for the throat with hard and heavy Sabbathian hymns like “Centuries Asleep” and “Losing Shape”. However, being the contrarian I am, it should come as no surprise that my choice cut is the one song I refuse to call doom metal, “The Talking Mask”. This is a full blown 70s metal opus in the vein of Rainbow and Scorpions, albeit played through a doom metal filter. There are also progressive nuances to this song, which are just as prominent as the doom.
I’ve statistically concluded that out of 100 doom metal albums released weekly on Bandcamp, only 1 will be worth listening to front to back. Bottomless is this week’s singular worthwhile doom listen. Congratulations boys! Or as they say on The Sopranos, “Salud!” Please pardon my ignorance. My knowledge of Italian culture is strictly limited to this fictional TV show.
7 out of 10
Label: Spikerot Records
Genre: Doom Metal
For fans of: The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath