Band:	I Exist
Album:	II: The Broken Passage
Style:	Stoner metal
Release date:	January 31, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Ghost Of A King
02. Wyverns Keep
03. Blades Ruin
04. Black Unicorn
05. The Riders Ode
06. Acid Strain
07. Lungs Of Mire
08. Fleshold
09. Mammoth Falls
10. Immortal Mare
11. Wretched Earth
12. Return To The Cosmos
13. Winters End

Sludge and hardcore, as natural a mix as anything you could want to find. Being completely honest with ourselves here, I Exist isn't exactly too terribly exciting, it's just some solid, natural sounding noisy music.

Basically, the production values are pretty close to Sleep's Holy Mountain, maybe a bit heavier. Take that slightly softer, fuzzier guitar tone, speed it up a bit, then throw in some hardcore elements (namely the vocals), and you've got The Broken Passage in a nutshell. Though the whole feel to the album is definitely something more rhythm-focused, some of the guitar melodies play an interesting part. They're deep down buried in there, surrounded by sludgy riffs, poking their head out just enough to be noticed, but never really distracting. It's like those pictures of random colors that have some secret picture hidden inside that can be spotted if you relaxed your vision. Unlike those pictures, the hidden riffs actually exist, it's not just a bunch of assholes pretending to spot them in order to seem sharper than you.

That's the problem with extremely simple, basic albums like this. It's enjoyable based upon how unpretentious and visceral it is, but it gets pretty dry by the end. A lot of new sludge bands seem to be having a problem with this these days; they can create something that's heavy and engaging upon first listen, but fails to lack any returning appeal save for a few select riffs & songs. I Exist definitely have more replay value than say, Black Tusk, but only slightly.

Sludge for people who like sludge. Simple as that. In fact, simple is the word of the day, folks. It's simple and moving, but only for so long.