Band:	Usnea
Album:	Random Cosmic Violence
Style:	Blackened doom metal
Release date:	November 10, 2014
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Lying In Ruin
02. Healing Through Death
03. Random Cosmic Violence
04. Detritus

With 21 categories and 10 nominees per category for our annual Metal Storm Awards, it's inevitable that some albums are going to go unnoticed. One that may have missed your glance in this past edition was Usnea's self titled debut, a powerhouse of pounding doom, a dynamic black metal touch, and ensnaring atmosphere. Not even two years later, these Americans are back at it yet again, looking to solidify and expand upon their sound, an effort at which they certainly succeed with Random Cosmic Violence.

Usnea's sound essentially boils down to occult-tinged blackened doom, with much more of a focus on the doom side of the equation than the BM. The music on Random Cosmic Violence is a logical continuation of the band's debut, primarily riff driven and undercut with a fantastic sense of melody and atmosphere, both in the instrumentation and in the mesmerizing delivery of the clean vocals, which sound like the shamanic chants of some sort of spellcaster. The mysterious and hypnotic feeling conjured by the latter especially helps to build upon the occult theme at work here, and the riffage, though it may seem repetitive and monotonous, really seems to be working towards some sort of ritualistic trance state.

But of course, Usnea were never just about the doom, and the extreme side of their personality rears its head on Random Cosmic Violence as well, most notably on the title track, easily the highlight of the album. The vocals are a painful blend of menacing shrieks and thundering growls, and when they get going with some blast beats and tremolo picking, the results are truly superb. The only real complaint here is that this approach wasn't utilized more often, but at the end of the day Usnea are doom first and black metal second, so it's understandable. This "extreme occult doom" feeling at work here conjures a lot of thoughts of Usnea's contemporaries in Atriarch, and, curiously enough, both bands actually do hail from Portland, Oregon.

Blackened doom has always been a pretty limited phenomena, and with the few albums released in the department for this year, Usnea's sophomore effort is a definite gem. Here the band went for more of an emphasis on melody and atmosphere, a "less is more" approach with the extreme elements, and it worked. The fact that these guys are willing to try new techniques to refine their sound demonstrates their commitment to growth, and they're clearly going places with it. Keep your eyes on this band. My gut tells me that while Random Cosmic Violence isn't their masterpiece, it's a prelude for one to come in the near future.

Give it a spin.