Doom hasn’t really haven’t come a long way as of recently - of course, no blame to any band or specific part of the genre. There has simply been a limitation on the drone and moan of it all – not to mention, it just hasn’t been all that fun lately (yeah, I know I just implied Doom had to be fun). Too many bands have sapped the living crap out of the fuzz, grunge, and dankness of it all. Everything sounds the same, bleh, you know I could go on about it forever and have a larger legion of haters on my back then I already have. Anyhow, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve found something that is honestly sort of fun in the genre – that is this split from two almost completely unknown acts: the aptly named Murder Cafe and Earth Burnt Black.
Okay, so I’ll admit this isn’t anything like HELL or Buzz-Oven, it is almost infinitely more DIY. But, I have to say – both Murder Cafe and Earth Burnt Black really had me listening for a longer duration (as in, multiple listens of the entire Split).
First off, Murder Cafe is most certainly consists of avid sludge/doom fans that have absolutely no fear of sounding a little goofy and mixing almost every possible vocal style into their side of this split. I kid you not; Murder Cafe did just about every flavor of metal vocal I’ve ever heard – everything from the sort of talk-sing to black metal to death metal vocals. Usually I’d consider this sort of thing a mess but I just can’t – the love Murder Cafe has for their music definitely carries onto the listener.
Earth Burnt Black is definitely more of a roots band, going back to styles that remind me a little of stuff like The Melvins and maybe tinges of early Mastodon (though not much) but also carries a little bit of a death metal tinge? Clearly Murder Cafe and Earth Burnt Black really enjoy mixing things up. My only issue with Earth Burnt Black is that they really don’t carry as much of the passion I found on Murder Cafe’s side of this split. Most certainly for people who want it a little heavier.
Something I did have a problem with on this split was the flatness of the sound sometimes. It seems that whomever did the mastering didn’t really think of adding too much (sometimes no) reverb at all. Both bands could have massively benefitted from a more depth-y sound, which would no doubt make this entire split sound absolutely thunderous.
Nonetheless, Murder Cafe and Earth Burnt Black have really made something I can honestly say is enjoyable. It doesn’t exactly break any molds but it certainly has a load of heart.
