Imagine the unstoppable momentum behind glacial growth. The inexorable, creeping advance of unfathomable tons of matter annihilating all in its path; the erratic detritus gathered in its passing and the unknown exposed in its wake. Imagine all this, and the untold centuries its progress encompasses, then try to summarize it in just under 40 minutes of cerebrum-melting music. If you’re having difficulty doing this, don’t worry, because Belgium’s Alkerdeel has done it for you on their latest album for Babylon Doom Cult records, Slonk. A deceptively soft start on “Vier” inevitably descends into the hurricane chaos of Alkerdeel’s signature wall of sound: reverb, multiple textural layers and thudding battery collide in a fusion of blackened doom, sludge and psychedelia that defies all physical ...
