Band:	World Below
Album:	Repulsion
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	November 27, 2006
A review by:	Lucas

01. Monsters In The Closet
02. 731
03. Gilgamesh
04. The Old Ones
05. Monument

Label: PsycheDOOMelic Records
Website: http://www.psycheDOOMelic.com


The Swedish doomsters from World Below have various members of big bands in their line-up (Scar Symmetry, Grave) and still they were completely unknown to me before this release! A little bit of google-ing reveals that they have released three albums already, the first two being "Sacrifices To The Moon" (2004) and "Maelstrom" (2005). The third and last to this very day is "Repulsion" and is enough reason for me to check out both their earlier albums.

Their music is exactly what everybody likes about Traditional Doom Metal. The guitars and bass crush you with their monumental sound, and then suddenly shift to very catchy groovework or a long drawn, tearing solo. A thunderous crash of the drumkit rips your ear-drums apart. Add the middle/high pitched vocals, typical for the genre, of Mikael Danielsson to that and you're in the land of Doooom! More than often they remind me of the Italian Thunderstorm. Fans of that band should definitely give them a try, but they'll work for all junkies of the genre in general.

The last track however, rightfully dubbed "Monument", deserves a mention of its own. With its twenty minutes it takes up almost half of the album. Opening up with a strummed intro, brusquely squashed by the combined blow of guitar, bass and drum, it flows over into a wailing Mikael. So far so good. And then the guitars become so groovy I don't know whether I should bang my head or do a funky disco dance. Ok, that may be slightly exaggerated, but you get the idea. At first I thought it was rather odd, but after a couple of spins I have gotten used to it and I like it quite a lot. After that 'special moment' the songs flows into its normal flow again and we are left with another fifteen minutes of epic doom.

The overall impression is rather positive. "Repulsion" shows a band who pay their homage to their favourite bands, without becoming the obvious copy-cat, but retaining their sound. So for all the fans of the genre who don't know them already, you have my recommendation.