Review: Cosmic Reaper ‘Bleed The Wicked, Drown The Damned’
North Carolina’s Cosmic Reaper have returned to reap the unworthy, the pitiful, the uncool… You know who you are! And it’s deserved, as it is the band’s second full-length effort after their fearsome self-titled album from 2021.
Bleed The Wicked, Drown The Damned, courtesy of the ever-excellent Heavy Psych Sounds, is a straightforward helping of galactic doom punishment consisting of snarling guitar attack, mournful vocals and a sense of impending dread.
The simple and aptly titled Hammer kicks off with an appropriate level of feedback before launching into a grinding riff onslaught perfect for an arriving fleet of invading spacecraft. The tempo really picks up speed to accompany Thad Colliswarning vocals (‘Raise the Hammerrrr!’), preparing the listener – or unwitting song protagonist – of the ensuing blow.
Crowbar-esque caustic harmonized guitar begins the second track, Bloodfeather, which blazes with a feral burning light, while Pot Of Gold balances furious intonations with Collis’ somewhat gentle vocal approach in a manner similar to Pallbearer. Parasiteshas what can be best described as a mid-tempo staccato riff to give a rollicking groove, rounded out by some menacingly distorted and swinging bass. The track feeds off the listener’s fear as the intruder saps the life of its unwitting host organism.
an interplanetary doomscape of unrelenting heaviness and menace…
Speaking of organisms, we get the track Perfect Organism, which is a none-too-subtle reference to a certain sci-fi horror film coupled with some truly chest-bursting slabs of amplifier abuse. Bones and the closer Waiting By The Gallowsalso bludgeon with similar aplomb, showing the band’s tight lockstep into their particular style of ethereal doom. If I have any criticisms, it’s the way the drums are mixed, along with the fact that there isn’t perhaps enough variety among the tracks, with the possible exception being the gentler number Dwelling.
Even so, Cosmic Reaper effectively accomplishes what they set out to do. Bleed The Wicked, Drown The Damned is refreshingly free of bells and whistles and dives straight into an interplanetary doomscape of unrelenting heaviness and menace. Bleeders and drowners, you have been warned…
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Rob Walsh
