### Moss: Sub templum

#### 19/06/09 || Khlysty

It’s late, I’m tired, I have a headache, in the morning I have to go and vote for our trade union, plus there’s a shitload of work waiting for me, so I’m gonna keep this short’n‘sweet. Moss is a trio from Southampton, England, and “Sub Templum” is their second full-length, although they’re active since 2000. Moss plays a kind of extreme doom metal, with dinosaur-length songs that are marginally less fromless than the “music” played by dronesters like SUNN or Earth, but, if you’re hoping for something approachable or headbangable, dude, you’re so fuckin’ mistaken…

This is not melodic funer(e)al doom, man. This is extreme to the core, with guitars sounding like hammers hitting your head, drums that just keep a rhythmic presence and vocals of the desperate scream/howl type that add a lot to the jolly fun. “Sub Templum” contains four songs in its 74-minutes duration, which should tell you a lot about the music. And, although the band has no bassist (just drums, guitar and keys), their sound is so fucking low-end, you won’t believe your ears. Since the band claims that its main inspiration comes from the works of one H.P. Lovecraft, I think you can easily conclude that their main goal is to create a subterranean-horrors-waiting-to-be-released-and-devour-the-whole-fucking-universe ambience with their music. And that’s exactly what they achieve.

The songs are extremely long and slow, but not without – slight, yes, but existing – variation. The riffs are great and the arrangements give a sense of tectonic plate movement; ever so slow, but ALWAYS THERE. The vocals exude a sense of almost cosmic desperation, giving the impression of a mind that lies precariously one step before total collapse. The whole package – music, CD layout – speaks of an atmosphere of incomprehensible but palpable terror and that’s what makes Moss a brilliant band: their capability of invoking terrible feelings, all the while staying within the framework of their chosen genre.

With great, raw production by Jus “Electric Wizard” Oborn and using as “visual stimuli” almost forgotten B-movie gems, Moss achieve their lofty goals and produce an epic-sized behemoth of an album. Of course, this shit needs patience and resilience from the listener. Also, if one’s a speed-fiend, one should steer clear from it. For the rest of us doomsters, this is one great addition to the pantheon of extreme doom metal. So…

8,5 Kthulhu v’gah nagl f’thagn out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Rise Above Records
- Website: Moss MySpace
- Band
- Olly Pearson: vocals, hammond organ
- Dom Finbow: guitars
- Chris Chandler: drums, percussion

- Tracklist
- 01. Ritus
- 02. Subterranean
- 03. Dragged to the roots
- 04. Gate III: Devils from the outer dark (i. Walpurgis, ii. The coming of 13, iii. Exitus Templum)