Improv is a real slippery slope, I think we can all agree on that. It can easily go in either direction as to whether or not it connects with listeners as it’s truly up to their own interpretation given its organically raw and unpredictable nature that gloriously varies from one listener to the next. For some bands, though, it can lead to some of their most compelling material to date that cna then evolve into something that’s an utterly completely different beast by its final form. The idea of Eaters of the Soil putting together an improv set is somewhat of a terrifying thought since their sound is already immensely nasty and unrestrained in many different ways, so fathoming them doing it with virtually no form whatsoever is to incur the very spirit of chaos. And it’s in that very spirit that this quarter succeeds where it could’ve been effortless to fail.

Born out of what was meant to be a simple rehearsal session before the band’s first live performance of the year, the 29-minute, two-track slog that is “Inedia I” is nothing short of a fantastic demonstration of what it means to take the most raw form of artistic prowess and vision in such a form that cannot be considered anything less than immensely compelling. Much like its predecessors, these two tracks borrow heavily from the realm of jazz with the haunting use of a trombone to really make this brand of doom unlike the vast of majority of what’s to be heard out there by an absolute longshot, but it’s with that addition element of chaos that the improv bring to the table that “Inedia I” truly does take on a life of its own. Virtually without struggle, the effort gets right underneath your skin in the most unsettling fashion as it possibly can with there being very little regard for those in its path as well as the sanity of those who find themselves coming across its horrifying path of destruction which quickly makes this seemingly brief effort something that draws itself out for what feels far long than what’s just shy of half an hour. Time has no meaning within the endless depths of “Inedia I” as it really does feel as though Eaters of the Soil have put you into a terrifying loop that cannot be undermined or underestimated no matter how much you may try to worm your way out of its horrifying clutches, and it’s in such purgatory that this act manages to great things albeit scarring.

To craft something that can be considered a true assault upon the senses is something that so many have done their best to bring forward into the world with many succeeding in more than a few cases, but there’s something particularly unnerving and unsettling about what has been accomplished here within the depths of “Inedia I” that extremely few others are able to liken themselves to. Eaters of the Soil have never once been an act to ignore or cast aside ever since their unforgiving debut, and it’s clear with this new, frenetic effort that they still have so many more terrifying visages to bring before us.

LISTEN to “Inedia I” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Eaters of the Soil on Facebook here.