Negative, I am a Meat Popsicle

I normally cannot stand funeral doom. I have a hard enough time with any doom at all, but it's this particular subgenre that most frequently bores me to tears. I just lack the patience. My loss, but not so in this case. Like any skilled drug dealer, Trapped Within Burning Machinery planted just enough intrigue on my initial sampling to keep me coming back for more. I don't know if it was the stellar production, occasional addictive hook, or the particularly engaging harsh vocals; but this may be one doom demo that actually remains in my collection.

I'll start with the vocals, since they caught my attention first. They are decidedly black metal in nature, foregoing the more traditional deep, sustained growls of the genre. The register is mostly quite high and raspy, but more importantly, effective. Lyrics are understandable, while presence is never lacking. Not only does the approach help otherwise typical compositions stand apart, they allow the occasional death howl to really make an impression. The dreary clean vocals further add to these dynamics with a performance fit for a solemn, well, funeral.

Moving onto the guitars, I was equally impressed. Even though the slogging chords are fairly standard to doom at this point, Trapped Within Burning Machinery succeed at perhaps the most important aspect of the genre aside from building atmosphere: creating memorable riffs. For instance, there are some nice progressions in "Jean-Baptiste..." that worm their way in and provide a touch of stoner aesthetic to an otherwise depressive approach. The clean interludes and haunting, reverb-soaked solo at the end of this song and "Mr. Shadow" are all excellent touches that keep the lengthy compositions flowing. Meanwhile the humble rumble of the bass guitar adds to the overall moodiness. Stick to the end for a surprising, and truly uplifting, shift to post rock with the aptly titled “The Divine Light.”

Oh, in case you didn't recognize the names of these tracks, the songs are based on characters and themes from "The Fifth Element." Of all things, I never thought I would hear sludge or doom metal covering content from an action movie starring Bruce Willis and Chris Tucker. If anything, I would have expected a progressive or power metal band to make such an album, but there you have it. And you know what? I'm glad. Write about what you're passionate about, not what everyone expects you to. And apparently, guitarist Robert Trujillo got really passionate one day about "the blue lady from The Fifth Element," and an album was born. You go, man Let your inner sci fi nerd shine. If you like doom, and even if you don't, you should check this out on bandcamp today.