Review: Sif – Aegis of the Hollowed King
All digital sales received through 10/11 will be donated to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
You know those genres that you always forget you love as much as you do? Instrumental doom metal is one of mine. The thing is, though, it seems like good instrumental doom can be a hard thing to find. And while I’d consider myself a pretty big Bongripper fan, their latest release didn’t really do much for me. Thankfully, one of the perks of being a writer for this distinguished doodoo depository is that I get to play promo bin roulette! What could be behind this link? Could be anything! A potential album of the year? Some weird proggy stuff that’ll change the way I think about music itself? An absolutely worthless cacophony of oddities? There’s only one way to find out!
Spoiler alert: It’s that first one.
Sif can be characterized by three of my favorite hyphenated phrases: one-person project, New Orleans-based, and Dark Souls-inspired. Richard Murphy—the man behind the curtain—describes Aegis of the Hollowed King as having “the riffs of Bongripper, the drones of Sunn O))), [and] the worldview of Thou.” Even before reading his statement on the record, those influences came through loud and clear. Low-end riffs and fuzzed-out drones adorn the album. Even while entirely devoid of lyrics, the atmosphere of the instrumentals does more than its job to carry home the concepts of the individual tracks (with a little help from the song titles, of course).
The album is comprised of 4 songs, all but one of them clocking in at 11 minutes or more. Opening track “Aegis” feels like it could be a cut segment from Bongripper’s Great Barrier Reefer and hits the perfect combination of riffs and chugs that a good instrumental doom track will bring to the table. That being said, I think one of Murphy’s great strengths is his awareness of when to change things up. Ethereal cleans and echoing leads keep the track from ever feeling repetitive or stale and the mellow, feedbacky outro serves well as a mini palette cleanser before the blackened d-beat phrygian-fest that is “Bearer of the Curse.” Possibly my favorite track on the record, it keeps you entertained not just with that droney rumble that we associate with instrumental doom, but with leads that keep you bobbing your head throughout. The last third or so of the track comes as another welcome change of pace as melancholy chords and a gorgeous wall of sound take over. The last minute and a half grants us a return to that d-beat rhythm, albeit with a punkier sound this time around.
“The Last Giant”—the shortest track on the album by several minutes—serves as our introduction to the second half of the release. Being the most atmospheric song on the album, you could easily persuade me that it was a B-side from Sunn O)))’s Life Metal that I had forgotten about. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that’s a Rat that he’s using to get that tone (Richard if you’re out there, tell me if I got it right). The airy drones drop you straight into the sound of mounting feedback as album closer “Fume” gears up to deliver another Bongripper-esque experience. Much like the first track, it’s your fairly typical “open string chugs and simple riffs” experience coupled with some dissonant leads and all the high-gain screeching feedback you could possibly ask for. It’s a solid finisher for the album and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Now, I can’t pretend that this LP is a perfect one. There are a few segments where the production can feel a little thin at times, but those moments are few and far between. To really nitpick, the breakdown (I guess you’d call it?) about a third of the way through “Bearer of the Curse” is one such moment. There’s a good amount of buildup to it, but it ends up hitting more like a moped than a truck. All in all though, I have to give praise again to Murphy’s songwriting and musical prowess. It’s not easy to put together an instrumental doom record this good. It’s even harder to put out, like, 4 of them. Seriously, Sif’s discography is well worth your time. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, all digital proceeds through October 11th will go to the Palestinian Childrens’ Relief Fund. Show Richard some love, send some funds to a worthy cause, and, as you would assume, praise the sun! [try wallet but hole ~Roldy]
4.5/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Aegis of the Hollowed King is out now through Fiadh Productions.
