Shadow of the Torturer - Marching into Chaos (2009)

   Fortunately there's no lack of high quality sludge/doom materials since the late '00s. There are basically 2 reasons why is that. At the beginning of the decade sludge metal had some sort of renaissanse period by bands who played the style more complex and progressive than before (like Mastodon for instance), and even though this direction turned further from what sludge was actually about, their increased popularity had it's influence. The second reason was that noisy sound and minimal themes was brought into focus in the underground scene (it was also responsible for drone metal) and that was like a perfect opportunity for a counteraction for bands who preferred the more tradional form of the genre.
   "Marcing into Chaos" was a stunning debut of Shadow of the Turturer, that introduced well the darkened depths of this old but still somehow recent sounding style. Basically classic, but quite noisy doom themes are pulling down the listener into a dirty, muddy pit of depressing hopelessness. The influence of old Cathedral is waving back frequently while listening the album. The difference is that while Cathedral sounded simply desperately depressed, Shadow of the Torturer introduced the same from a way more obscure aspect. Not the method of inner or practical suffering is the point - it's just like a necessary inspirational resource, but the certain approach of death itself. Rotting away in that dirty, muddy pit in solitute. Perfection. According to the sound and vocal style, the band also sympathized with death/doom, so their music is on the borderlines of 3 genres the same time. Still, the album is quite unified, because these styles are compatible for combining them with each other. Recommended for the fans of sludge/doom and death/doom.