Band:	Horse Latitudes
Album:	Gathering
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	October 25, 2010
A review by:	Darkside Momo

01. Hornblas
02. Seas Of Saturn
03. Gathering
04. Son Of The Moon
05. Decayment

Beware! If you enter the horse latitudes, you might lose your mind. Or be trampled by a weird, surreal beast (from Finland, mind you).

Now, imagine a throbbing bass sound.
Got it? Add another bass, then, as heavy as the first.
Downtune them for greater effect. Now, this is heavy enough.
Add drums. All in slow tempo, even very slow at times.
This sounds uncannily like doom? Yeah, a weird one, that is.
You'll believe me about the 'weird' part when you'll hear the vocals. They're lethargic, psyched, unhinged, tripped-out declamations on par with the rhythm; sometimes they grow harsher when the tempo speeds up, and on one song at least ("Son Of The Moon") they have a clear Tom G. Warrior influence. Apart from this, they're something really unique, like the weed / LSD / whatever the band most certainly used to record this album. Think The Gates Of Slumber, only slower, heavier, more psyched-out. Or Saturnalia Temple. Or any of the like, as long as it's really heavy, occult stuff, you know. And with a gritty, lo-fi sound to match.

Wait a minute. I said sssllloooowwww, and yes it is, but if you survive being trampled by the first three songs, you'll notice that the last two are a bit more upbeat. There are some nasty accelerations out there (oh, don't worry, we're still far from grindcore), coupled with aggressive vocals, that are quite startling and waking you up. That said, the band doesn't feel the need to do so very often.

Somehow like a slowed-down, bass only Electric Wizard, but weirder, Horse Latitudes might be less frightening, but not less disturbing. They are mesmerizing for sure, but drowsiness and boredom are not always far behind... And while I wasn't really moved by this Gathering, I can easily imagine why people would like it. This is certainly for a doom elite, those that love all these heavy, lo-fi, slow-motion mammoths out there?



Thanks to Lucas for the bit of help!