Without Light - All The Kings Must Burn

Without Light - All The Kings Must Burn

Weed Cabinet Records - May 2020

Sludge, doom, horror, concept

Rated: *****

All too timely, Chicago's heralds of the end times Without Light bring the full weight and horror of the apocalypse on their brilliant upcoming sophomore effort, All The Kings Must Burn. A concept album chronicling the rise of a Lovecraftian wurm from the abyss, and the resulting fiery fall of man, this is cosmic horror given audio form. After the cryptic intro "4543" preaching alien numerology, Without Light launch into a crushing sludge assault across five epic long cuts. "To The Bottom Of The Abyss" begins the journey with slow and creeping doom over shuffling kitwork, eventually revealing massive riffs that grind and churn with paint peeling distortion and wild, rumbling drums. Seismic low end adds serious weight to the nodding grooves, and the death-leaning vocals fit the atmosphere perfectly. The sci-fi horror is then amped up more than a few levels in following cut "Larval Baptism", whose uneasy start of warped bass and effects somehow brings to life the track's namesake ritual, like some forgotten Event Horizon sequel. Answering the calls to "rise up, destroy", harsh stop-start guitars disorient in an angular, unrelenting attack. The album takes a doomier turn in the two-part "Wretched Ascent", building with eerie retro synths and wash straight from outer space, before a swaying earworm groove is laid down with kit-smashing drums. The sonic themes are continued in part two, rising in intensity in anticipation of the world-razing finale "The Wurm Triumphant". Not to give too much away, but it's a fitting soundtrack to Without Light's tale of apocalypse, razing all with walls of sound and furious drumming at High On Fire-levels of intensity. All The Kings Must Burn is a terrifyingly heavy tale of cosmic doom, and as both a sludge and concept album masterpiece is an all-consuming listening experience.

(Written by Shasta Beast)

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