Bethmoora - Thresholds

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To fuse Doom Metal with Sludge Metal was a very good idea in the past. But it’s not so easy to understand some features of the genre, or maybe we can call them obsessions by the part of the musicians. Maybe it happens due a ‘tyranny’ from the fans (that don’t understand and give support for those who dare to step out of the limitations), or maybe it can be that ideal of being like someone. And although the Danish quintet BETHMOORA has potential, they need to improve things more than is shown on “Threshoulds”.

Their musical work has the same fusion between Doom Metal and Sludge Metal that was used many times before. And although they have a personality pulsing on their songs, they need to mature a lot, for using such long timespans with such oppressive rawness can become a boring experience. It lacks a more different set of rhythms to make things sound better for the ears. The production is another weak point of their work. It’s not so nasty and crude as a great part of the releases, but there are times when the overloaded distortion used on guitars and bass guitar (to create a ‘greasy’ feeling) can be hard for the ears to deal with.

There are many good ideas shown on “And for Eternity, They Will Devour His Flesh”, “Keeper”, “Painted Man” and “Lamentation”, but they are lost due the band’s choice for long timespans when shorter songs would be a better choice. It’s nothing different from many bands of the genre as well. It sounds locked inside a shell that was created by many musical conceptions that, for a musician, are the first thing to throw away. It sounds cliché in many moments. As said above, BETHMOORA has a great potential, but “Thresholds” is an album for the fans of the genre. For fans of another Metal genres, it’s extremely hard to be swallowed.

Songwriting: 6
Musicianship: 7
Memorability: 5
Production: 6