Doom metal hits a little differently when it’s gritty and angry. Not that we don’t love the type that makes you want to smoke your mind out of your skull or the style that takes you on long droning adventures. We very much do. But when there’s some piss and vinegar involved, it takes things to a different mental level that can feel like a bloodletting.

“Hellward” is an apt title for Veilcaste’s fourth record, and it crawls with menace and stomach acid that churns inside of you. The music is not pulling punches and isn’t here to soothe any wounds. Instead, the band—vocalist Dustin Mendel, guitarist T Garrett O’Sha, guitarist/vocalist John Rau, bassist Gabe Whitcomb, drummer Chris Cruz—forces you to look into the horrors of our modern society with eyes wide open, ears fully engaged, psyche connected to chaos. Plus, their style is a little scuzzier and rough around the edges in the best way, making them a bleeding sore in doom metal’s expanse.

“Embedded” instantly pounds away, Mendel’s vocals (they’re midway White Zombie era-Robert Zombie and Cathedral’s Lee Dorian) spread the grime, and the doomy grit expands generously. Guitars ache and stretch as punches hit their mark, continually throbbing until fading. “Chains” is psychedelic at the front end, bruising as the vocals smash, the pace drubs, and the guitars smolder. The tempo reloads as the stress bubbles over, guitars drip with iron ore, and the howls retch before flies circle the carcass. “Altar of Ecstasy” starts clean with wails stretching, the playing stomping, and the psychological torment setting in, driving filth down your throat. Guitars swell and merge with an eerie soundscape, anguished cries pick at wounds, and the playing lumbers before essentially blacking out. “Vore” stings the senses, the menace takes over, and the pace hammers away, your muscles twisting before a sense of solemnity arrives. Clean singing rings in your ears as the pace thickens, punishment melts bone, and the sludge multiplies, wilting destinies.

“Anchored” emerges clean and airy before growls add stress, and a grisly power bleeds through cracks, pressing down on chests with full weight, growing feral and hellish. Guitars whip into a frenzy, buzzing as raspier singing strikes, crushing to the very end. The title track dawns with wails wrenching, dark and sooty pathways thickening your footing, Mendel calling, “You’re from another world, you don’t belong here.” The heaviness increases as electricity scalds flesh, the playing smearing your mind before fading. “Worn in Stone” is sludgy and scathing, Mendel howling, “Deliver me from this lie.” The bass rises, and a deliberate pace lets your veins relax, warm guitars conjuring smoke, the soloing glimmering and the final minutes killing slowly. Closer “I Am the Guillotine” pounds away, the vocals slither, and the chorus lands and brings melody, a slight shard of light in the grim gray. “Finding a way to kill you over and over again,” Mendel jabs, and the playing blisters from there, drubbing and admonishing, the fires eventually consumed by rustic acoustics.

Veilcaste sound channeled and angry here on “Hellward,” a record that’ll leave scars on your hide simply by getting too close to it. Their sooty style of doom gets in your veins and leaves a little bit of viscous residue behind, leaving you fully aware you won’t be truly clean again. This is another strong chapter for this band, one that should help them find an bigger following if this music hits the right damaged ears.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://veilcaste.bandcamp.com/album/hellward

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