Harrowing doom that chews you up & spits you out – Indian unleash ‘From All Purity’

I hadn’t heard of blackened doom purveyors Indian until around a month ago, after seeing Twitter alight with noise of this band that had called the first track on their new album ‘Rape’. Soon after, the opportunity came along to review the album and it’s been worming it’s way through my brain ever since.

Indian – From All Purity Out now on Relapse Records

‘From All Purity’ is six songs of hateful, caustic noise that will rattle your skull and eradicate any sense of light in your life. As soon as the pummelling introduction of ‘Rape’ forces itself into your ears, you know you’re not in for an easy ride. It’s the kind of song that entrances you as you get lost in one riff for seemingly hours before the howling screams of Dylan O’Toole bring you out of the trance, but don’t end the nightmare. Far from it. ‘Directional’ pounds it’s way into existence with all manner of scathing feedback and 10 minutes into the album, you know that these Chicagoans have become masters of sludge. It’s perfectly paced with just enough hints of melody to give the barren, twisting noise a personality. The droning beats and feedback are disorientating and claustrophobic and there’s no letting up at any point. You can feel the despair in the screaming and guitars, accentuated by punishing drums and distorted, bellowing bass. It’s difficult to work out what’s being said lyrically here, but it’s a pretty safe bet it's as bleak and scornful as the voice projecting them from the depths of hell. ‘Clarify’ does nothing to help put you at ease and is in fact four and a half minutes of purely terrifying noise. Last track ‘Disambiguation’ sees the first signs of anything close to fast, but even then it’s just double kick puncturing the morbid soundscape created by the guitars, bass and downright evil vocals. Christ. ‘From All Purity’ is a difficult listen, but that’s not to say it isn’t excellent. Underneath all the bile, the songs are well thought out, the production is BIG and you can definitely nod your head along to it, albeit very slowly. You may need a hug afterwards, but this album is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re looking to delve further into the depths of doom and sludge. Indian have created something dark here, but it’s a darkness that we can all be drawn to at some point. 9/10
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