GROTESQUE BLISS "Grotesque Bliss" [12" LP, Black Vinyl]
2024 - Death/Doom from Australia
Detailed Description
IRON BONEHEAD PRODUCTIONS is proud to present an expanded version of GROTESQUE BLISS' debut demo, Grotesque Bliss, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Hailing from Australia, GROTESQUE BLISS feature vocalist / bassist Bjorn of the equally mighty TEMPLE NIGHTSIDE and Grave Upheaval; guitarist Chris Burton, whose credentials stretch back to the '90s with Paramæcium, Cryptal Darkness, and then the successive The Eternal among others; and veteran drummer Matthew Southcombe, whose credits include Internecine Excoriation among others, filling out the lineup. In 2022, the trio promptly set about capturing their ancient doom-death. Two rehearsals followed, with a self-titled demo arriving in 2024. Now, that demo sees international release in expanded form, concluding with a cover of My Dying Bride's classic "I Am the Bloody Earth." Thus padded out to a full-length, GROTESQUE BLISS' first long-form recording is a dark & disturbing display of paradigmatic doom-death, and unapologetically so. Granted, some parallels can be drawn to Grave Upheaval's bleakness as well as TEMPLE NIGHTSIDE's cavernousness - and, of course, Paramæcium are a cult name among doom-death aficionados - but on Grotesque Bliss do they stick to a rigorous template of primeval lurch, caveman execution, and twisting, tendrilous songwriting that thankfully doesn't wander into amorphous, all-atmosphere territory. Sometimes, almost fleetingly, will their stomp almost encroach upon the mid-tempo, but then GROTESQUE BLISS strip it back to bare-bones, suffocatingly slow. Vapor trails of leads add a touch of deeper melancholy, as do the tortured moans; otherwise, vocals plumb the abyss, and there is where you'll stay. No light, no hope, no fun: this is Grotesque Bliss.
