Search - Old Man Gloom :: Christmas

Bautifully Heavy and Wonderfully Creepy

J. Stone | Fredonia, NY United States | 09/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd like to start out by saying that idiot boy (not just a clever name) isn't listening to this album in the right manner. I agree, for just listening to a random very very heavy song, "Gift" or "Volcano" work perfectly. But Christmas was not meant to be listened for just the heavy tracks. If you actually sit down (preferably at night with the lights off playing a Silent Hill game) and listen to it you realize it is not just random ambiance. It is carefully orchestrated to inspire unease, among other things, as the nearly eight-minute long track "Accord-o-Matic" performs all too well. What that reviewer failed to realize was that even though the members come from already awesome bands like Converge and Isis, Old Man Gloom is NOT CONVERGE OR ISIS!!!! If it were just their other bands mashed together, it would sound unoriginal, uninspired, and very trife. Simply put, if I want to listen to Converge, I'll listen to Converge, and Old Man Gloom is not Converge. This may come as a shock, but when members of bands come together to form a new band, they usually do it because they want to try new things, experiment with different sounds, and they accomplish that beautifully. If you like those other bands, you won't get that in Old Man Gloom, you get something disturbingly beautiful instead that shouldn't be discounted because most of the tracks aren't heavy."

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Adam Bradley | Toronto | 10/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, I put off buying this album for a while because in my mind I had set the bar way too high (how can you not expect greatness from a band that features members of Converge, Isis, and Cave-in?) so I finally bought this and Oh my God....The opener "Gift" is one of the slowest and heaviest songs I've ever heard. Listening to this album is like being in the middle of a hurricane. Some quiet, ambient moments and then *bang*, the heaviest sounds I've ever heard. Now I love my doom metal (neurois, isis, eyehategod etc.) but this is by far the HEAVIEST sounding album I've ever heard. The guitars are slow and droning with riffs that will make your ears bleed. Aaron Turner's vocals have never sounded so harsh, sounding more like Sean Ingram than what you'd get on an ISIS record. Best record so far of 2004"

The Critics Agree...Five Stars!!!

Andre M. Almaraz | South suburbs of Chicago, IL. U.S.A. | 12/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to the other three guys ahead of me here... I have never heard Old Man Gloom, Converge, or Cave In before, but I am a big Isis fan. I was quite skeptical (as always) to buy something I've never heard, but I decided to give it a shot due to favorable word of mouth and several good reviews of the album here and other places as well. I'm so glad I did. As everyone else states, it's in my top ten of 2004 also. What a relief and breath of fresh air this album is. It has a great mix of songs that rage, to space jams and everything in between. Thanks Old Man Gloom and the previous critics. This is a new favorite."