TROLLCAVE (Sp) – ‘Adoration Of The Abyssal Trespasser’ MLP (blue vinyl)

You enter the mouth of the cave above ground and are struck by an eerie sense of foreboding that grows more intense the deeper underground you explore. There’s a heavy, enveloping atmosphere that gets more and more claustrophobic before opening up into something much more terrifying: confronting the labyrinthine depths of Trollcave. The two 15+ minute songs on this record are full of unexpected twists and turns. The introductory synth passage lays the groundwork for the absolutely punishing riffs ahead. Highlighting all of it is a tasteful use of ambience, clean guitar, and a total animal madness in the vocals. Trollcave is occasionally reminiscent of Darkthrone and Black Sabbath not in sound, but in approach. Sabbath-like, they deftly manage abrupt shifts in mood and move from riff to riff in ways that you may not think would work, but do. Not unlike Darkthrone, Trollcave also employs tasteful repetition, lulling the listener into an almost meditative mood before ripping them out of their false sense of security. The result is an engaging listen that demands repeat spins to take it all in. FFO: disembowelment, Sedimentum, Krypts