Well i was pretty slow in catching onto this band from Glasgow, i pick their debut album "The Human Tragedy" early last year and recently i got myself a copy of their latest self-titled album to read a few days later that the band had split. There was a album released in the middle of these two called "Being and Becoming" and i will be picking that one up as soon as possible. This band has to be one of the best kept secrets in the world of Doom because Snowblood was one hell of a uncompromising outfit of musicians. Impressively packaged in a fold-out card sleeve, the band have left the four tracks on the album un-titled with only the lyrics included on the fold-out booklet, there is also no credits or information preferring to let the music speak for itself. Musically they take the industrial sounds of Godflesh, the bass laden Doom of Electric Wizard and the swampy, gritty feral Doom of bands like Iron Monkey, mangle it all up into a sound of their own. The opening close to 20 minute track is a seething, twisted piece of music that blend clean guitar sounds with dirty distortion and some of the most expressive vocals you will ever hear from Luke Devlin . At times it is verging on complex, progressive rock with jazz inspired drum work. The song is built around different movements that increase in intensity as the track progresses. Clearly there is no rules with this band as they move from more complex passages to a repetitive monster of a Doom riff in one part of the song. The drum-kit of Ewan Mackenzie threatens to fall to pieces in another section of the song as the level of aggression increases. Multi-dimensional and multi-layered, some bands could write 10 albums just from the ideas in this one song. Another epic track follows with the sound of strings (cello and violin) blending beautifully with delayed guitar sounds and organ. Like the opening track, it builds piece by piece, getting louder with every movement. Over the course of the track which is even longer than track one, it goes from sounding calm to a sound of sheer Doom Metal brutality. It has a horror-movie soundtrack vibe about that is one part threatening and one part downright un-settling. Once again the sound is huge and the musical scope of the band is incredibly diverse. Track three is the shortest track here, at 10 minutes and is the only weak moment on the album. Maybe its the overwhelming intensity of the opening two tracks that make this track seem so ordinary. It has more of a indie, post-rock sound with more piano and cello and groovy bass lines, not bad but for me it clashes with the rest of the album, maybe its just a teaser for whats to follow which is a monolithic masterpiece. The closer which again pushes the 20 minute mark builds its way from cleaner Neurosis styled passages into filth ridden Stoner Doom which is a little like Electric Wizard. Add in some Iron Monkey styled nastiness and you have a musical beast, the song showcases all of their musical abilities within the one track and rather than being a overlong exercise in noise, it actually seems much shorter than its actual running time. I could listen to this track all night long, there is a kind of demented beauty about this track and when the droning feedback brings the track to the end, you are wanting more. I love any band that is prepare to push the boundaries of Doom like Snowblood do so its a great shame they are no more. With the exception of track three, this sees the band going out on a exceptional high. The scene has suffered a great loss with the departure of this much underrated band. I just wish i had have heard them sooner, at least i have this classic to remember them by.
