It’s been five days of nearly straight gloom here in Colorado, something I very much welcome as the little rain we’ve gotten is urgently needed so we can try to avoid a catastrophic drought for the upcoming summer season. Naturally, this is ideal for some gloomy music as well and we have just the thing to match that energy today.
Sacramento, CA’s Desiccation are about to drop their next LP on May 15. Called Legatum Mortuorum, it’s a pallet of blackened doom with some other elements of death and post-metal set to foist itself on anyone unready to absorb its rousing malaise. Today, we’re happy to premiere the video and next single, the title track of the album, right here for y’all!
Just three members deep, Desiccation manage to sound like an ensemble of doomers with how they approach and layer their sound. All the expected elements are here – guitar, bass, vocals (times two!), drums, and synthesizers – just divvied up among the trio to give their music a massive sound. The drive and crashing of black metal is very apparent, taking the furthest step forward in this track. Starlit synths give it an ethereal feel that harkens back to the heyday (and most controversial era) of the genre in the early ’90s. Given a cleaner production ensures it a less abrasive and obscure life though, and the weight of doom metal that “Legatum Mortuorum” has keeps it grounded even as it evokes the supernatural.
The video is appropriately atmospheric and expansive, weaving shots of hills, forests, and plains of what I assume are the surrounding mountains of the band’s native Sacramento with shots of the band. They hold some parallels with the natural beauty here in Colorado, but also that choking isolation and unease you can feel if you venture too far out into the wilderness by yourself. All members can be seen performing in the video, juxtaposed with the world they share and unseen forces they sing about – ‘Roots tangled in the soil/Of sacrifice and despair/Each drop falls like rain/Upon my barren soul‘.
Dessication‘s latest work is poised to hit hard with a very particular sect of metal enjoyers. May 15 approaches quick, but there’s still time to preorder the album on the trio’s Bandcamp. There’s vinyl, cassette, and CD options as well for the committed and physical media supporters among us (y’all are the realest), all courtesy of Carbonized Records. Follow the band on Instagram as well!
