Band:	Mesmur
Album:	Chthonic
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	April 14, 2023
A review by:	F3ynman

01. Chthonic (Prelude)
02. Refraction
03. Petroglyph
04. Passage
05. Chthonic (Coda)

Hitching a ride to the underworld? Mesmur can take you there.

Funeral doom. This genre is notoriously the slowest form of metal out there, and thus has been the most difficult for me to enjoy. I appreciate atmospheric music, but uneventful droning gets old real fast. Yet, I've discovered that funeral doom keeps my attention if it contains a thick layer of eeriness — a subtle element of fear that keeps me wide awake and expectant of some incoming doom. The rhythmic churning of the instruments suddenly gains profound meaning if it's accompanied by tales of unspeakable horrors lurking in the depths of the Earth, preferably underwater (see Ahab, Tyranny, and Fungoid Stream).

Mesmur fall into that category as well. Their fourth album bears the title Chthonic, a word that derives from "underworld" in Greek and probably inspired the name for Lovecraft's infamous monster Cthulhu. Despite the haunting lyrical themes about cosmic horrors and deep secrets of our world, the music here doesn't seem as claustrophobic as it could be. This is largely due to the use of synths permeating the background and lead guitar melodies dominating the foreground. These instruments offer a somewhat lighter mood to battle the otherwise oppressive tone of the slow rhythm guitars, the ominous drum beats, and the otherworldly growls.

In terms of originality, Mesmur don't provide much that'll surprise veteran doom fans. Apart from the ambient tracks bookending the album, the three middle tracks offer solid, trudging riffs that don't reinvent the wheel, but definitely succeed in setting a tone befitting of the dark and nameless things at the roots of the Earth. Still, thanks again to the lead guitar and synth work, there exist enough dynamic fluctuations in the music that I found myself thoroughly entertained for the entire runtime. And that has to count for something! In sum, Chthonic strikes that rare balance of good funeral doom — establishing an enthralling and expansive atmosphere while keeping the listener continuously hooked.