Review by Jason Guest
Self-released
Release date: 15 June 2014
Ireland’s Raum Kingdom are heavy. Very heavy. Not just musically, but lyrically too. This EP is of greying, concrete skies, of cities crumbled and left in ruin, of acres upon acres of meadows of infertile, colourless soil. If you’re going to stick this on, prepare to be floored.
With riffs that are deep, dark and dense, the EP has a cold, bleak, and desolate atmosphere that is all-consuming. The down-tempo sludge of ‘Wounds’ is desperately suffocating and ominously spacious, the track’s seething rage slowly building as the track drags us reluctantly onward into the hopeless gloom of ‘Barren Objects’. With vocalist Dave Lee switching from clean vocals to a pain-filled scream for the refrain of “These are your sins / Deal with them”, there is nowhere left to hide. And sandwiched between that and the disturbing ‘These Open Arms’ is ‘Cross Reference’, an instrumental comprised of a single, simple guitar line echoing into the smoke of the invective of humanity’s farcical relationship with itself. After such horror, where is there for Raum Kingdom to go but into the ten-minute abyss of ‘This Sullen Age’? Here, Raum Kingdom truly come into their own and leave us, the listener, violated by what we have made and what we choose to ignore. Like I said, floored.
WIth bands such as Cult of Luna, Tool, Amenra, and Isis as inspiration, it’s clear that Raum Kingdom have enough strength and maturity in their sound to let their own name speak for itself. For a debut, this EP is outstanding. More please.
8 out of 10
Want to know more about Raum Kingdom? Read Jason’s interview with guitarist Andrew Colohan here
Track listing:
- Wounds
- Barren Objects
- Cross Reference
- These Open Arms
- This Sullen Hope
