Cleric

If ever there was a case for false advertising, it would be with explosive grind/doom outfit Cleric and Regressions. There is nothing even remotely retrograde about this album; it's progressive, vitriolic and overwhelming. One of a few instances where the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts, these guys deliver volatile compositions even Lords are incapable of. Within the first track ― mind you, it's 20 minutes long ― raging grind gives way to plodding, cumbersome doom before opening the gates to ambient passages akin to the dark, cryptic atmosphere of Emperor. Essentially, within any given song, one hears the detonation of Pig Destroyer, adrenaline of Converge, creative technicality of Nomeansno and Psyopus, outright weirdness of Fantômas uniting with P.I.L.'s Flowers Of Romance and creepiness of, well, not much is creepier than hearing tribal rhythms clashing with banshee wails and thundering guitar. Sure, it tests a deaf person's patience at an hour-plus, even with the intermittent serene/ambient tracks to offset the frenzy. Still, with so many startling, impressive and outrageous aspects, Regressions is something entirely unto itself.