I've been listening to a decent amount of sludge and doom over the past year, and I have continually been amazed at how much talent is out there in this scene. This week we have Gallery, a little known sludge band hailing from the U.S. Upon first hearing them I was immediately drawn to their heavy use of bass as well as the sheer power and aggression of their music. The thing that really captured me was vocalist Chris Castro's tortured growls and angry yells that give this music a lot of its character. But there are plenty of other things to like about this band. Some sludge albums try to create songs with the same sort of structure as your typical metal song: a verse and a chorus with a bridge thrown in occasionally. These guys do not. Instead they keep a song flowing by repeating certain musical and vocal patterns, but making slight changes to the sound and, sometimes very large, changes to the tempo. I personally like this approach because it works very well with this type of music I think, in which each song tries to tell a story or create some type of atmosphere.

The first track, Reflections At The End Of Time, is catchy and engaging. The vocals, while very rough, definitely fit the music with the angry growls and guttural roars carving around the heavy bass and guitar riffs. The bass interlude towards the middle of the song gives you a moment to breath, yet keeps an ominous feeling. Man-Made God has a rant type feeling, with the shouted growls and the simple yet very heavy riffs. The super fuzzy riffs just make me want to headbang, and they get faster and faster as the song goes on, eventually settling back to more of a sludgy pace, but the angry rasps of Castro countinue. The song is a sledgehammer of thick riffs and raw aggression that makes me want to hear more, although this song is quite long at just under ten minutes. The theme seems like a cross between horror/evil and a more violent undercurrent of disgust and contempt for the modern era. Countdown starts off with slow guitar and bass, with the tortured growls coming in after a short while, but the heavy riffs holding off, building the tension with drums and a foreboding bassline until the electric guitars start slamming your eardrums. The pace of the song remains slow however, taking a sort of melancholy turn for a bit. Soulkrusher is another heavy and violent slab that combines doomy, catchy guitar atmosphere with a bit of speed and aggression, which is exuded by the growls of Castro once again. Know No Wrong is a heavy instumental that starts off sinister and brooding but kicks into high gear with blasts of guitar fuzz and quick drum work. Changing tempos several times along the way, it is in turns foreboding, violent, exciting, and even playful, despite embodying that repetitive, sludgy sound.

These guys have created a very listenable yet at the same time raw and aggressive sludge album. Combining elements from doom, sludge, and even a touch of aggression from death metal and hardcore, they have crafted one hell of a heavy album that has been keeping me enteretained for some time now. If you like bands such as Sleep, Weedeater, Rwake, etc. you should definitely check these guys out. It also doesn't hurt that you can name your own price for the album in any digital format you desire on their bandcamp page. Can't wait to hear what they come up with next.