These Are They, Who Linger
Comprised of current and past members of Novebers Doom, Chicago’s These Are They let loose with one hell of a debut album. Who Linger straddles the line between straightforward American death metal, the more melodic Swedish variety and doomy elements of their other endeavor. Featuring massive down tuned guitars and a raw, yet rich production, the band has enshrouded themselves in a thick wall of doom influenced death metal.
At times reminiscent of Amon Amarth, the guitars feature anthemic flourishes that are epic in nature before stepping back into the abyss with burly, doom tinged rhythms and riffing. These Are They does a great job of morphing from chugging grooves to brooding passages that swell with an atmosphere of desolation, all the while punishing you with bruising rhythms.
Front man Paul Kuhr maintains a burly, guttural delivery that fits his band mates perfectly. There are only a few moments of oddness vocal-wise — the clean vocals of “The Indweller” and a depressive, yet interesting take on Soundgarden’s “4th of July.” Overall, the guys come together well, delivering groovy, doomy and bruising death that just about any fan of metal should enjoy.
Ascension
“Ascension” serves as an instrumental opener to the album, starting off with distant noise and atmosphere (the first minute or so) before peaking with some seriously catchy guitar work that’s melancholy in nature yet still holds quite an epic feel. I honestly could listen to those guitars all day.
When The Voices Sound Deadly
It’s not until “When The Voices Sound Deadly” gets going that you know these guys mean business. Starting with a guitar tone similar to the album opener the band quickly shifts into an Amon Amarth like combination of double bass and chugging riffs. The layered vocals that appear throughout the song add a good deal of depth to the beefy guitar work. Even though the sound is similar to their Norse counterparts, Who Linger has a deeper, more doom oriented tone to the guitars and completely different lyrical content. There’s a decent lead at :330 that fits in nicely with the dark tones.
Upon The Doors Of Oblivion
This next one is a chugging monstrosity of a song with an opening few moments that will have you head banging like there is no tomorrow. Once the vocals kick in, deep and guttural, the guys kick it up a notch into the quickest clip on the album. The guitars add an air of bleakness to the deep walls of sound these guys are kicking out. There is a definite doom influence on the guitars within this song.
In The Halls Of Waverly
This is probably my favorite song on the album. Massive drums combine with deep, doomy riffs and a very direct vocal approach for one foreboding and dark sound that ends up having a great head banging groove and open vibe to it. The drum work throughout the song is what really makes it for me. And for such a “slow” song, it packs a hell of a punch.
Blood Vengeance
While most of the material on the album is rathe slow moving, this one has a decent up tempo pace with catchy guitar work and shifting rhythms. There is plenty of aggression delivered with the rolling drums and driving riffs. There’s definitely an air of vengeance in the vocal delivery, as well. Be sure not to miss the lead at 2:54.
Eclipse Abysmal
For as dark as this song is, the guitars carry and epic feel in what is probably the moodiest song on the album. Massive doomy riffs dominate a good portion of the first minute or so of the track before the vocals kick in deep and guttural. The groove thundering through this song is thick and monolithic as the guys chug along. There’s a good deal of power surging through the guitars and drums around the 3:20 mark that’s followed by a decent lead.
The Indweller
A Swedish death metal feel opens up “The Indweller” with plenty of rolling drums and semi-melodic guitars. A huge growl and catchy riffs kick in just before the one minute mark and will leave you nodding along with the crew as they settle in to a nice groove. The moody, somewhat clean, somewhat chanted vocals that serve as the chorus are a bit out of place. They fit the music well enough, but with the rest of the vocals delivered in a fairly aggressive manner, they really stand out like a soar thumb. It’s an interesting song to say the least.
The Midnight Hour
I love the opening riff work on “The Midnight Hour” as the band shifts into a pretty decent chugging groove and deep guttural vocals. With regard to the vocals, there’s a higher end, raspy shriek added to the mix that helps offset the bowels deep main delivery. The guitars that accompany the chorus has an anthemic and brighter feel to them, especially considering the lyrical content to this song. I’m also loving the super gutturals after the four minute mark.
Resurrection In White
“Resurrection In White” has an interesting beginning with an equally interesting vocal delivery — it’s deep and guttural of course, but the staggered nature of it to match the music is pretty sweet. Overall, there’s some nice song writing throughout this one with plenty to keep you entertained and head banging along with the sludge tinged riffs. The soulful lead around 2:40 is dripping with sorrow and despair.
4th Of July
I’m not 100% familiar with this particular Soundgarden song, but These Are They‘s take on it certainly is chock full of gloomy atmosphere.
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Additional Notes:
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