Glorior Belli

Combining sludge, doom and blues in a blasted cauldron, and firing it with the infernal heat of black metal, French alchemists Glorior Belli continue to refine their process on the swampy Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls. They enjoy playing with unexpected textures —syrupy mixed with sharp, tar and shrapnel — and this tendency is a highlight of their fifth full-length. The guitar tone conjures honey dripping off razor wire, where the vocals are much like stepping into sucking mud mixed with long, evil shards of broken glass — every word sounds ripped from a shredded throat, merciless and forced. There's something monstrous about Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls, something huge, hairy and shambling. More than that, it's hostile, such as in the hissing aggression of "I Asked For Wine, He Gave Me Blood," and the haunted, hunted crawl of "Backwoods Bayou." This is a record for the sparsely populated, unexplored, dark and festering places of the world — all those woods you don't want to go wandering in at night.