1782 Raise "Demons" Through Earth-Splitting Doom Metal (Early Track Stream)
There is a refreshing consistency to 1782‘s occult doom metal. Those hunting for ‘big fuzzy riff’ bands generally set themselves up for disappointment, as the genre seems remarkably prone to promising bands imploding or pivoting to more progressive, soundscape-driven music — or worse, simply failing to deliver on their promise. Those looking for simple, potent riffs are often left feverishly hunting for a fix, which is probably a part of why 1782 had remarkable success in 2019 with their single “She Was a Witch” (which scored 650K views on YouTube).
Evaluating the song on its innovative merits misses the point: of course big fuzzy riffs and songs about witches and Satan were done to death by now; big fuzzy riffs and songs about witches and Satan had founded the damn genre. The critical bit here was that 1782 had, after a million trends in doom metal had come and gone, still managed to make a song about witches with fuzzy riffs that didn’t seem stale at all. It was loud, it was fun, and it promised more loud fun to come.
With their third album Clamor Luciferi on our doorstep, this portent of loud fun has already come to pass and is about to ring true once again. You won’t find 1782 reinventing doom metal on this album, but you will find a thrilling volume of Satan-hailing, tube-amp-wielding, riff-obsessed doom that very likely has no goddamn idea what an ‘amp modeling sim’ is and certainly has no interest in serving up ‘cinematic soundscapes’. It should be noted I’m a fan of these things, but as I mentioned much earlier, sometimes one just wants the potency without the pretense.
On “Demons,” which we’re premiering here, the band’s doom doesn’t hold back, delivering massive riffs and narrating them with forceful, echoing vocals. The snarled English lyrics and droning riffs often lurch into unexpectedly mystical, even dangerous, territory that navigates away from the normal pentatonic fare. I feel like there’s a comparison to be made here to early Italian doom acts like Paul Chain and Black Hole, rather than just the normal stoner-doom equivalences, and not just because they share a country of origin: 1782 carries on the same spirit of reckless creation and occult fixation, making the music they want to make without much concern for current trends.
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The band comments:
In the deepest abyss you can hear the screams of beasts as they approach you to drag you down with them. Between heavy riffs and pounding rhythms immerse yourself in the darkest world, the world of demons…
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Clamor Luciferi releases April 14th via Heavy Psych Sounds.
