On April 2nd, Fuoco Fatuo released their third record ‘Obsidian Katabasis’ on Profound Lore Records. Formed in 2011 in Italy, this funeral doom/death-doom band doesn't bridge the gap between doom metal, death metal, and funeral doom. They enlarge it by expanding it with their heavy, destructive mass from the deepest crevices of hell. It's funeral doom at its finest.
Funeral doom can only be experienced if the whole package is there: great artwork on the album cover and music that makes you feel exceptionally miserable. When it comes to the artwork we should really be thankful to Canadian artist Abomination Hammer. He made his own version of The Brazen Bull on the album cover, a torture device that was allegedly used in ancient Greece. The bull was made of bronze and they put people in it, closed the door, and heated it up with fire so that the person inside would be roasted. Slowly. Their screams were muffled by an apparatus that transformed them into the sound of a bull.
Then there is the music and o boy what a treat this is. This album sounds like an eruption of the Vesuvius and the movement of lava. There is literally no air to breathe, every open space is sealed shut with swarming guitar and bass, double bass drums, and haunting synths. The vocals vary from low growls to screams that are sucked away in the depths of a soulless vacuum that shatters every spark of hope or love that ever lived in your body and mind.
The lack of space on 'Obsidian Katabasis' makes this album very intense to listen to, but when you hear the final notes of III, your conception of hell will be closer to the truth than ever. In other words, Fuoco Fatuo has made a truly dark funeral doom monument.
Tracklist:
Obsidian Bulwark (Creation Of The Absurd)
I
Thresholds of Nonexistence Through Eerie Aeon
II
Psychoactive Katabasis
III