It’s increasingly becoming more difficult to find good things to say and or celebrate about the world in which we live and the people around us. It feels darker every year as oppression rains down from the wealthy who dominate policy and because our planet is in decay, and those who could make change don’t give a fuck. 

So, that makes for the perfect arrival for “Obscured Into Nebulous Dusk,” the thunderous third record from UK doom crushers Coltsblood. This is the first full-length from the band—vocalist/bassist/keyboard player John McNulty, guitarist Jem McNulty, drummer Jay Plested—since 2017’s “Ascending Into Shimmering Darkness,” and just think of everything that has happened since then. It only makes sense their sound would get burlier and more ferocious, injecting strains of death metal into their mixture, coming out with a four-track, 42-minute bruiser that feels as decimated as many of our psyches.

“Until the Eidolon Falls” opens, vibrating the earth, drone permeating as guitars hang in the atmosphere, the melodies holding for full gush. Growls lurch as the misery rains down, heavy beams of energy feel insurmountable, and a brief calm pushes into sweltering conditions. The playing pounds harder, crushing as the vocals curdle, noise wailing and spreading before burning off. “Waning of the Wolf Moon” drubs and batters, the vocals wrenching as the assault tramples you underfoot, dust catching in your lungs. Guitars smear as shrieks rain and destroy, the playing ravaging with fire, the bass chugging as noise drapes over the madness. Drums pummel as speaking hovers, pressure pierces, and the final moments dissolve into the ground.

“Transcending the Immortal Gateway” is whirry and hazy, the vocals menacing, hypnotic melodies wedging into your brain. Breezy leads push into forceful punishment, the howls scrape, and a dreamy haze hangs over before the noise rips. Guitars melt as the humidity thickens, guitars stretch, and space consumes everything whole. The closing title track basks in mournful organs, lurching howls, and doomy melodies that thicken into a black sheet. Sorrow and tumult combine with pained wails that eat at your psyche while the playing slows and tortures, a melodic gaze somehow squeezing out of that. The playing soars into the dark as a lone guitar calls, then everything swarms anew, the growls bubble, and the thickening darkness cascades permanently.

Coltsblood expertly drive their creativity toward darkness and pain on “Obscured into Nebulous Dusk,” their most realized and heaviest both from a musical and philosophical perspective. This is a devastating display, one that will crunch you thoroughly in their jaws, leaving you bruised and battered on the other side. It’s a massive effort to battle back against those who try to blacken the earth and its people with oppressive ways that must be destroyed completely.

For more on the band, go here: https://coltsblood.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://translationloss.com/collections/coltsblood-collection

For more on the label, go here: https://translationloss.com/