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"As its title suggests, “Andromeda Colossus” is an album of stoner doom that is both robust and cosmic."
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3/5
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Ape Vermin is an American band whose name evokes some sort of lumpy beast that you might imagine wading through fetid death metal. In fact, it's (almost) nothing of the sort, as the North Carolina trio producing some big, hairy doom. Which doesn't make them any less snarling and brutal, closer in that respect to gruff sludge than to Candlemass.
Likewise, the titles of his albums - “Sonic Monolith” in 2018, the “Arctic Noise” EP in 2021 and “Andromeda Colossus”, which is of particular interest to us here - hint at extremely heavy, massive material, rooted in telluric depths, thick as molten lava. Finally, its ternary form (guitar/bass/drums) heralds a stripped-down approach that goes straight to the essentials, unencumbered by embellishments.
Dirty, nasty and leaden, that's how Ape Vermin seems to want to be in the rough and muddy trail of Crowbar and High On Fire. And yet, this second opus showcases a sludge doom that's more subtle and nuanced than it seems. Certainly, guitarist Brett Lee's vocals are appropriately rough, the tempo set in rock, his skin covered with the resinous bark of trees reaching for the sky in all their sturdy, majestic might. As an opener, 'Obliteration Imminent' leaves no doubt as to the acrimonious nature of Ape Vermin.
However, 'Colony' already blurs this first impression somewhat. All the seismic indicators are in the red, but at the end of the track, the guitar soars surprisingly high, bursting with stratospheric feeling. 'Pulse Driver' is drowned in a layer of nebula, while 'Mining The Colossus', 'Motherlode' and the final, almost instrumental 'Return To Andromeda' are shrouded in an almost cosmic veil, but still sink into a vertiginous black hole.
This robust menu is divided between short, angry, rasping protrusions and epic pulsations with a stellar, albeit granite-like, glow. "Andromeda Colossus” may have deserved to be trimmed down (it's too long, and its intensity runs out of steam along the way), but it's still a stern log that's been rounded out by a salvific space juice, without emptying it of its rocky, harsh substratum. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Obliteration Imminent - 5:11
02. Colony - 7:00
03. Solaruss - 5:30
04. Pulse Driver - 3:47
05. Mining the Colossus - 8:05
06. Signal Transmissions - 2:45
07. Motherlode - 8:31
08. Awakened - 3:16
09. Unearthing the Artifact - 7:42
 10. Return To Andromeda - 7:56
LINEUP:
Brett Lee: Chant / Guitares
Jared Edge: Basse
Seth Lynn: Batterie
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STAFF:
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