In the past nine years of its existence, Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean has been on a journey towards their eponymous location. Don't get me wrong: it's not like their first release could ever be described as "light". But there was a dynamism there that offset the heaviness of the music in a way that has slowly faded to black with each album. This is not a criticism; this is a good thing. The result of this fading is the sound we find on Let Us Not Speak Of Them But Look And Pass On, the band's latest release. It continues the trend of the band's career, delving ever deeper into sludge, almost funeral doom in its unfurling, inky structure. It is also perhaps the band's most successful interrogation of this sound, filled to the brim with the earnest and haggard anger and pain that keep me coming back to their releases.
At the core of the release is the undeniable tone of the main guitars. It is murkier, blacker, and more seductive than ever before. It bleeds like molasses, providing the oil slick floor upon which everything else lies. The sound shines best when offset by scintillating, sharp cymbals (kudos to Seth Manchester who recorded and mixed the album), raw, high pitched vocals, and various guitar screeches. Tune into the four and a half minute mark on the first track, "An Abundance of Mercy", and listen to how it all comes together. Pay attention to how the high notes of the vocals and the cymbals seem to "swim" in the murk of the guitars. Later on in the track, that murk takes front and center, backed by some truly bizarre sounds from the bass guitar (I think?), gurgles bubbling forth from some dark abyss at the bottom of the mix.
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean have also not completely discarded their penchant for groove and the art of the riff. The expression of that art simply runs through a slower, darker core now. You can hear that around the two minutes and twenty seconds mark on "An Adornment of Light", as an absolutely meaty riff that would do Zozobra proud (RIP) is ushered in by movement-inducing drum fills. Those moments hit you right in the stomach, transmuting the heaviness of the sound into some shambling beast that moves faster than you'd think for all of its mass. The result are moments of stoner impact in between the sludge assault, fast, one-two punches that leave you grasping for air.
If it sounds like I have nothing but good things to say about this release, that's because that's the case; Let Us Not Speak Of Them But Look And Pass On is Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean's best release to date. It is a fantastic distillation of the journey their sound has been on for a while now and a testament to their ability to delve the depths of sludge and doom and bring back something truly special and unique.