Over the past few years, Greece has become a place to me that has been synonymous with quality thrash metal as plenty of Greek thrash bands have graced my ears with Suicidal Angels and Biotoxic Warfare being only two highlights. Yet, as if to show me that Greece can do more than death and thrash metal, My Deathbed has come from out of the woodwork to present to me their brand new sophomore full-length effort, and it’s everything that I’d come to expect from a Greek one-man demolition crew.
With a name as bleak and dark as that, you’d think that My Deathbed would go for something along the lines of depressive black metal, no? Well, you’d be spot on if you’d think that! My Deathbed is a damn good example of what happens when you take depressive black metal and smash it right together with a doomy approach that really knows how to drown you in an absolute wave of black whilst also tainting your soul to the very core with utmost ease. Now, just imagine that with the eponymous new album being a 50-minute drone of four tracks that drag you into dust as you can feel your final breath approaching you at a breakneck pace as the black metal rips your very spirit asunder and the doom make it feel as though the weight of the entire planet is teetering on your shoulders. All four tracks with this album prove to be a very well done interpretation of how black/doom can be brought to truly dark corners of the human psyche, and the execution of it all is pure hypnosis. The monotonous nature of the metal is only amplified by the doom metal, and the black metal truly brings out the despair the mastermind behind this is invoking a truly haunting experience that shows this man really knows how to make his style hit its mark every single time.
Blackened doom has never really been a style that I can honestly say I’ve delved deep into, but from what I know I can easily say that My Deathbed is one of those acts that really shows what the style can be made of, and this album is brilliant proof of that. Fifty minutes may seem lightweight to many doom fans, but don’t let the overall atmosphere and unforgiving nature of this record distract from the fact that it’s a genuinely interesting listen to a dark place many people shy away from.
LISTEN to “My Deathbed” on Bandcamp here or via YouTube below.
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