The fourth studio LP from the Texas-based electro-doom duo,
Concept Unification
is a torpor-inducing miasma of gloomy synths, underwater vocals, and lumbering beats that evokes
Goblin
by way of
Sunn O)))
. It's a tangerine nightmare, and ex-
Great Tyrant
members
Daron Beck
and
Jon Teague
wouldn't have it any other way, as they've been trafficking in this unholy blend of sludge, darkwave, and Italian-style progressive rock since emerging in 2010 after the death of
GT
bandmate
Tommy Atkins
-- the name
Pinkish Black
is a grim nod to the viscera left behind on the wall of the bathroom where
Atkins
ended his life. The album commences with the titular cut, a sweeping one-note synth line that gradually grows a rhythm section and a creepy descending melody.
Beck
's heavily treated vocals flail helplessly in the sonic morass, buried so far back in the mix that they belong on the side of a milk carton. Follow-up "Until Now" adds some muscle, delivering thick, fuzzed-out emissions from somewhere deep within the earth's core, while the anxious, electronics-driven "Petit Mal" goes further underground, evoking the viscous, stalactite-ridden hellscape of The Upside Down from Stranger Things. At six tracks (eight if you include the bonus cuts),
doesn't so much wear out its welcome as it wears down the listener -- things can get awfully claustrophobic. Still, by the time the epic closer "Next Solution" arrives, it's hard not to appreciate the band's commitment to despair, as they saved the most lethal dose of voltaic gloom and crusty, molten doom for their finishing move. ~ James Christopher Monger