Heavy Metal Time Machine: Canyon of the Skull-Canyon of the Skull

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Canyon of the Skull-Canyon of the Skull

Self-Release/Independent
2015

Blackened and doomed to walk a scorched earth in misery for all eternity, Canyon of the Skull is a two-piece instrumental act that is based in Austin, Texas and comprised of Erik Ogershok (guitars, bass) and Adrian Voorhies (drums, percussion). In addition to this spectacular two track recording (which is due to drop on October 30th) the band has the "Demo 2013" to it's name. Meanwhile the Metal Archives lists this demo from 2007, but that's neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned. Right now the name of the game is "Canyon of the Skull" and it's a damn fun game at that! Or at least it is if you love creepy crawly blackened doom! On "Canyon of the Skull" we find this Texas two-piece (which incidentally was formed in 2006 by Erik Ogershok and is otherwise known as COTS) engaging in the fine art of sonic destruction that is otherwise known black metal. Over the course of two deathly cold tracks these doom warriors make the long trek across a tortured wasteland where no signs of life exist. In the process COTS creates a sinister soundtrack that is not that far removed from what you might experience on a stoner rock and/or sludge metal recording. Now, even though there are only two tracks on this forthcoming release there is a lot of material for your mind to chew on. For one "The Path (Of Bear And Wolf)" is a little over 17 minutes in length! Then there's "Canyon Of The Skull" which clocks in at over 18 minutes!! Between these two tracks you end up with well over 30 minutes of bruising metal(!) and (needless to say) COTS packs a lot of ideas into that time frame! Instrumental blackened doom has seldom been so epic so kudos to founder Erik Ogershok and his bandmate Adrian Voorhies! With the excellent "Canyon Of The Skull" serving as the group's official debut album it's hard to imagine this Austin act doing anything other than moving there way up the ranks of the blackened doom metal scene. Overall the instrumental "Canyon of the Skull" is a great first effort and one that should be appreciated by fans of this niche market.