As defined in the dictionary, the adjective ‘filthy’ means ‘very dirty and unpleasant’. This is the perfect adjective to describe the bass sound that is emanating from the music bouncing around my headphones at the time of writing this review. That music belongs to New York City-based duo BOG BODY, from their debut full-length album Cryonic Crevasse Cult. The reason for that filthy bass sound being so prominent is due to the band being a guitar-less duo, with SVR on bass, JP on drums, and the pair sharing vocal duties.
The duo has been active since 2016, with Cryonic Crevasse Cult being only their third release since their 2018 demo, Through the Burial Fog. The heavily distorted and lo-fi production the band has encompassed gives their recordings an eerie atmosphere reminiscent of the early first wave black metal albums, as much as it does the works of the more recent death / doom metal acts such as Mortiferum.
There are other guitar-less acts in the realms of the heavy music scene (see Big Business and Bell Witch to name but a few), but BOG BODY have carved out quite a niche sound with their bass heavy mix of sludge, death and black metal. When they play at tempo, SVR’s bass cuts through like a black metal Lemmy Kilmister, and when they slow down to dirge tempo, SVR captures massive distorted doomy grooves.
On reflection, BOG BODY might actually be the most apt name for this band, as their sound is that of a someone, or something, dying in a murky bog under a canopy of rotting trees in the cover of night. And if, like me, you are currently enjoying the thriving scene of death-doom and dissonant death metal bands, especially those that eschew high production values in favour of a more lo-fi sound, then this latest release from BOG BODY is an absolute must.
