Camel Of Doom - Terrestrial (CD)

Review
Doom-Metal.com
10/10
07.02.2015

Well, I could just take Kris’s suggestion and score this one ’15/10. Best. Album. EVAH!’ Job done, that was easy. Although I could somehow see that, on its own, inviting a hint of suspicion that favouritism towards staff might be involved, so…maybe we’ll expand a little more.

Chance introduced me to Camel Of Doom, when the mighty ‘Psychodramas: Breaking the Knots of Twisted Synapse’ unexpectedly passed my way from another reviewer’s desk, and immediately brought a combination of many things which hold enormous musical appeal to my ears. Chance also introduced me to Kris, some years later, when he volunteered to join the reviewing team here. But you can most certainly blame any Camel-based zealousness on my part on the former event, rather than the latter.

There have been changes afoot since that third full-lengther: most notably that the band proper doubled in size, with the addition of permanent bassist and co-songwriter Simon Whittle, while Lychgate’s Tom Vallely handled drums for the recording sessions. Musically, where ‘Psychodramas’ was a thematic concept album, ‘Terrestrial’ (despite a couple of possible inferences in the track titles) neither continues that cycle, nor treads the concept path: instead, it deals in long self-contained songs – and a few short interludes – taking inspiration from various different sources (including volcanoes, Dune, black holes, recreational drugs and spiritualism).

As before, the pre-release path runs through Priory Recording Studios, where Greg Chandler’s renowned skills behind the mixing desk come into play; unlike before, the release path runs straight to label, with Solitude Productions launching a fully-packaged CD version, wrapped in Daniele Lupidi’s artwork, on day one. The cover design, if anyone’s wondering, appositely shows the four terrestrial (ie Rock-based) planets of the Solar System…

Camel Of Doom, it’s fair to say, has seen quite a lot of evolution and progress over its many years, whilst still remaining recognisably true to its roots – dealing out heavy Stoner riffing sprinkled with some sludgy and Death/Doom moments, gruff vocal bellows, Space-Rock synths and more experimental progressive/atmospheric interludes. ‘Terrestrial’ refines that further: there’s still plenty of sound and fury to be found, with similarly massive tones to the portentously crashing backbone guitar and spleenfully-vented vocals, but it sets aside some of the sustainedly raw and angry feel of ‘Psychodramas’ in favour of ranging more widely in both subject and approach. Clearly, that owes something to the near-inevitable consequences of shifting from solo work to being a band. But it’s also partly down to a more substantial and integrated mix – not that there was anything wrong with the percussion section when it was all solo, but having two excellent musicians contributing bass and drums gives them more presence, more variety and more of an input to the soundstage. Partly, it’s where the second half of the album goes off exploring more of a loosely Psych-influenced vibe, for example, taking on a galloping Eastern-sounding beat for ‘Singularity’, or tripping out on Prog-Rock leads in ‘Sleeper Must Awaken’. And partly, it’s the additional downtuning giving a more consistent weight and anchor to proceedings: even the opening tracks (particularly ‘Cycles’), which do more or less continue the ‘Psychodramas’ sound, do it with a smoother, less angular, heaviness.

Add all that up, and you have what could best be described as a more mature sound, expressed through more polished compositions – though it’s still a very long way from any sort of anodyne sterility that ‘polished’ can imply. On the contrary, the level of attention and detail feeding into all of the instruments means there are plenty of layers and hooks to capture one’s interest. Kris told us in interview that he prefers not to work alone: the clear synergy between the band members displayed on ‘Terrestrial’ entirely supports that, even as it also respects Camel Of Doom’s core principles. For anyone not already familiar with those, it almost seems lazy to mention Esoteric (given Kris’s time with them), but they do spring to mind as the most obvious comparison for innovating that sort of lengthy, complex, deeply-layered, tempo-shifting and Psych/Prog/Space-influenced Doom. Not really sound-wise, but journey-wise, both bands have the knack of drawing the listener further in with each raucously inventive and restlessly unfolding piece, and in doing so both have established distinctive and recognisable identities.

By turns organic, immersive, crushing, majestic and downright exhilarating, ‘Terrestrial’ pretty much nails a perfect balance and flow. It’s a source of mild personal regret that the sometime saxophone found on various releases doesn’t make an appearance here – but it would be a stretch to view that as worth any actual complaint. Simply, this is exactly what classic psychedelic Stoner/Doom should sound like: the culmination of 13+ years of talent, persistence, improvement and hard graft has absolutely earned its place on a major Doom label, and it deserves to be a real breakthrough point for the band.And while I’m not going quite as high as the opening paragraph, for my money it’s a completely top-notch album and emphatically the first to make my ‘best of 2016’ contenders list…

Author: Mike Liassides

Review
Metallifer News

Premiered exclusively at No Clean Singing and even TOmetal.com, this one is everyone’s favourite. Doom-Metal.com gave it a perfect rating of 10/10, summing up the release with these words – “it’s a completely top-notch album and emphatically the first to make my ‘best of 2016’ contenders list… ”

Experimental doom metal band from UK, Camel of Doom, release their latest album on the ever-great doom label Solitude Productions, and as always, the quality is standard-setting. Unlike the expected atmospheric/funeral doom of the highest quality, for a change, Camel of Doom here play a weird but not unsettling kind of doom that’s refreshing to hear – it has a spacey quality to the whole thing, a touch of vast ambiance, progressive experimentation and seamless passages stretching out into eternity. This has elements of sludge, dark ambient, a bit of stoner and even atmospheric doom. The album is a foray into the unplumbed depths of space, a unique excursion that leaves you writhing for answers, for embedded in its drawn-out histrionics are epiphanies the genre could benefit from. Camel of Doom are a revelation, a band that aren’t content with merely mimicking others; they are out to change the perception, to do something beyond what is conceived to be possible, much like a trip to outer space.

Review
Toilet ov Hell
08.02.2016

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when clicking play on an album by a band called Camel of Doom, but I couldn’t resist. Luckily for us, any sense of novelty ends with the name. The music is serious, heavy, and thoughtful. Large doses of death metal and hateful sludge make this an immensely enjoyable brand of doom, and I was very pleased with the variety and experimental edge. This camel knows what it’s doing.

Author: Stockhausen

Review
Lords of Metal
8/10

Sorry, maar iedere keer als ik de bandnaam Camel Of Doom zie, moet ik gniffelen. Zal wel komen omdat die naam beelden van een lethargisch depressieve door de woestijn heen sjokkende kameel bij me oproept. Een soort van Droopy maar dan een kameel in plaats van een hond. Camel Of Doom is het geesteskind van Kris Clayton die de band vormde toen hij dertien was. Sommigen zullen Kris kennen van zijn tijd in Imindain en als live-muzikant bij Esoteric. Tsja, Camel Of Doom, ‘Terrestrial’ is een lastig plaatje qua stijlen. Het varieert van death doom, funeral doom, psychedelische muziek, progressieve muziek en stoner wat je over je heen krijgt. Camel Of Doom verstaat echter de kunst om het natuurlijk en als één geheel te laten klinken, voorwaar geen sinecure, waarvoor hulde. ‘Terrestrial’ is een plaat die zich na meerdere draaibeurten pas blootgeeft. Lekker veel lagen zitten erin. Ik moet toch eens op jacht gaan naar ouder werk van ze.

Author: Marcel H

Review
Kaosguards
14/20
08.02.2016

Depuis le début des années 80, la tendance dans le vaste et complexe monde du Metal est à la segmentation en genres, puis en sous-genres, d’où une multiplication exponentielle des chapelles.

Fondés par Kris Clayton (qui devait intégrer plus tard les référentiels ESOTERIC), la formation anglaise CAMEL OF DOOM aurait tendance à adopter une attitude cumulative, plutôt que sélective. Il est en effet extrêmement difficile de caser « Terrestrial » dans une seule et unique sous-catégorie. En effet, on trouve dans les huit compositions de cet album des éléments concordants des genres ou sous-genres suivants : Sludge (le son de guitare sale et les rythmiques poisseuses et lourdes), le Doom Death (vocaux caverneux, lenteur et pesanteurs de certaines rythmiques), le Funeral Doom (à nouveau la lenteur et la pesanteur mais aussi ces arrangements de claviers qui apportent d’étonnantes touches lumineuses), le Post Metal (les riffs dissonants), le Space Rock (les multiples arrangements synthétiques et une tendance ponctuelle aux ambiances planantes), le Rock progressif (pour les progressions des séquences multiples au sein d’une même composition).

CAMEL OF DOOM alterne de longues et imposantes compositions (quatre dont la durée s’étage entre onze et quatorze minutes), deux titres plus compacts et deux interludes dépassant de peu la minute. Mais à vrai dire, je conseillerais aux auditeurs d’envisager une écoute d’ensemble, chaque morceau constituant une étape d’un voyage stellaire un brin cauchemardesque : vocaux rugueux et rageurs, riffs tendus et crades, ambiances rampantes et malsaines…

Car pour CAMEL OF DOOM, l’aventure spatiale est faite de colère et de puissance, avec peu de place laissée à la mélodie pure ou aux structures directes et classiques. A vrai dire, hormis quelques séquences presque paisibles, CAMEL OF DOOM quitte les territoires tourmentés uniquement en fin d’album, avec le morceau instrumental synthétique « Extending Life, Expanging Conciousness » dont la sérénité un brin emphatique me rappelle les travaux lumineux de Vangelis, voire certains travaux de TANGERINE DREAM au début des années 80.
C’est dire le jeu de grand écart stylistique pratiqué par CAMEL OF DOOM qui, avec ce troisième album, continue à tester les frontières dans une démarche exploratrice et évolutive. A suivre…

Author: Alain Lavanne