Whitehorse

Thanks to Whitehorse's recent touring stint with crushing avant-doomers the Body, one would expect their new material to possess boundary-pushing potential equal to their tour-mates' recent outstanding output. Although this Aussie sludge/doom outfit undoubtedly deliver on the bruise factor with Progression, they are unfortunately a margin away from the nihilistic, twisted and ugly sounds that characterize the frontrunners of modern doom. Out of the aforementioned, this band owe their greatest debt to Corrupted, whose oppressive sonics are adopted to increasing levels of success as the album progresses, with "Time Worn Regression" bringing the formerly tame tremors of noise that course underneath the record's entirety to a fever pitch. Even if they fail to redefine the game, Whitehorse do make enough musical departures to warrant a proper listen, notably on the title track, which features a mid-paced section that sounds at first like a trad death metal throwback then morphs into a rewarding Crowbar-style groove.