It was somewhere in my very first days with doom metal that I heard an album that brought an atmospheric approach to doom metal the likes of which I hadn’t heard before, and it took many more months and a couple more records of exquisite quality to get me more into the idea as it wasn’t something I was into at first but it’s years later now that it’s a style that, if done right, can be nigh on intoxicating. And while it’s far from uncommon to see this style, it’s rare to see it done properly to where the vibes creep underneath the skin and explode outward with immense power and yet Leechfeast has done just that in two tracks.

Sludge and doom have always been immaculate when brought together as we’ve gotten so many different iterations of both heaviness and excellence when they’re brought together as we’ve seen countless acts come along to provide experiences that range from riff-heavy to ethereal like no other kind in the world of music to a tantalizing middle ground between those two. I wasn’t sure where Leechfeast was going to take “Village Creep” in its 26-minute runtime, but they opted for a sound that was undoubtedly ethereal in an incredibly menacing way that worked its way under your skin instantly before biding its time to opt for a very slow and painful demise. But there’s no explosion of power with many colors and textures adorning it that some might expect. Instead, “Village Creep” proceeds to slowly poison the listener through unnerving excursions into the black darkness wreathed in the warm glow of a growing fire that seeks to consume all, and no matter how much you try to escape the caustic excellence that Leechfeast has formed here you simply cannot lurch yourself away. Be it through a sheer fascination with the darkness at play here or trying your hardest to eat up every possible morsel that’s thrown your way, there’s very little to “Village Creep” that doesn’t pull you in to keep you planted right where you sit while Leechfeast brings forth a performance that’s just as harrowing as it is ominously gorgeous.

I’ve always found experimentation to be key to finding your sound because who knows? Maybe just trying something new just for the sake of trying it can lead to something great, and that’s precisely what we got with this EP. Coming off a devastating full-length last year, Leechfeast went back to the studio to create something fresh both for themselves and their listeners. In every way, they succeeded in a way that we simply don’t get to see a lot in such potent quality.

LISTEN to “Village Creep” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Leechfeast on Facebook here.