Beneath Oblivion

Never before has an album paralleled the trajectory of Mindrot's classic Dawning than Beneath Oblivion's From Man to Dust. These Cincinnati nihilists channel the negative energy of Dan Kaufman, Adrian Leroux and co. to rise above the morass of mainstream doom mundanity and stab at the underbelly of anguish and internal isolation. "Intro" begins with Buzzov*en-like movie samples then resigns itself to a chaotic torpor. "Concussions of the Head and Heart," the album's shortest track at a minute and some change, is a kick drum fiesta, à la Coffins, while 11-minute epic "Empire" achieves the atonal glory of Mindrot, as vocalist/guitarist Scott Simpson unleashes gargling, brain-warping screams amid an air raid siren and cryptic voice samples. Over a downhill course of nine minutes, "Atomic Mother" decelerates, Thou-style, extending its icy tentacles into an abyss of emptiness. "Be My Destroyer" and the whopping 20-minute title track don't sound far off from Neil Young & Crazy Horse at their feedback-laden heaviest. Doom metal is taking new shapes in the fans' conscious, and Beneath Oblivion are leading the way to a nirvana of ruin.