Bezoar - Wyt Deth (2011)

It's the year of the Dragon, so the universe is pretty tuned in to me right now. And the universe can tell that I'm sort of sick of the same ol' same ol', which is why it's sending all sorts of weird shit my way. This submission from Brooklyn's Bezoar is just about as strange as it gets over here; a female-fronted progressive doom troupe that traverse's through just about whatever genre they damn well please, which makes sense when they describe their sound as "in the vein of Yob, Russian Circles, Amon Duul II, and Celtic Frost." And then they go on to list Sleep, 1349, Diamanda Galas, Swans, Mayhem, Electric Wizard, Eyehategod, Slayer, and Darkthrone (???) as their other influences, so you can only imagine the clusterfuck of sounds present on Wyt Deth.

It doesn't always sound cohesive, and it doesn't always make sense, but it should go without saying that Bezoar is Be-zarre. The crushing organic crunch of YOB is certainly present and accounted for, while a myriad of disparate elements float in and out of the frame, all the while chased by Sara Palmquist's haunted, moaning vocals. Musically, there's enough going on here to keep me interested for the duration of the album, although I admit that the vocals grow tedious and start to wear on me after a while. Then again, I don't like Jarboe's voice either, so you'll have to take my opinion with a grain of salt. Check it out if you're not scared off by doomy psych-rock, or perhaps just in the mood for something a bit more challenging than your average retard slam band.

Tracklist:
1. Burn Everything
2. Vitamin B
3. Life On A Cross
4. Are We Not Alone
5. Nikola
6. Friend Of My Enemy
7. Clocktower
8. Knight

alone on the cross

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