Leechfeast - Village Creep (2019)^{Release ID: 24553}

Going into this I knew nothing about this Dutch / Slovenian outfit other than they have a horrible name and the cover to this EP is awful. What an excellent surprise it was then, when the music finally seeped out of my speakers. The two lengthy tracks have atmospheres intended to create discomfort and a sense of foreboding in the listener, although they are very different beasts. Side one's Village Creep is a disturbingly demented tirade by a scorned and shunned villager against his fellow residents of some remote outpost of civilisation, it's ultra-slow doom-laden sludge is accompanied by a low screeching sound that increases the disconcerting feeling of the track. Side two's Cold Flow features an insomniac protagonist who's torturous nights are haunted by some disembodied voice, it's drawn-out drone effectively evoking the protagonist's interminable nocturnal hell and with vocals strongly reminiscent of Patrick Walker on Watching From A Distance the sheer hopelesness and melancholy of the poor soul's nightmare existence is palpably realised.

For me this is a genuinely outstanding release and a great illustration of the atmosphere Doom Metal is capable of producing. It's despondency and personal desolation mean it is not really one for the "glass half full" brigade, however!