The Sunken Threshold

With two demos of excellent quality already unleashed into the dank swamp of the Doom underground, Dublin's Wreck of the Hesperus emerge once again, this time with what amounts to a full lenght clutched in their filthy paws


Having recieved unanimous praise for their rotten, Autopsy-inspired doom at home and abroad, what better label than the respected Aesthetic Death to provide patronage? Once again aiming for quality over quantity, the British label has succeeded in capturing what is undeniably a unique creature in the doom landscape. WOTH blend an effective mixture of inventive drumming, dirty and slow Autopsy riffs, deranged vocals and a dank, watery bass section that certainly fits the album's title well. Put simply, theres no other band out there that sounds anything quite like them.


Nonetheless, changes have appeared since the early days of the band. 'The Sunken Threshold' brings a longer, more persistent edge to the band to the fore, as greater space and character is afforded to the band in a full-lenght. The opener 'Stop the Black Coffins' sets the tone, a slowly swirling dirge that builds up to the enraged shriek of 'Blod...ist...LIEB!'. Then it edges off, shifting and changing as all good dark music does. Shambling into the catchy if doom-laden first section of the second track, the band change pace, before the rank and solomn tones lead off into a healthy gap of silence. The well chosen samples never lead to boredom and anti-climax as is often the case in the gore-grind genre, but their sparing and effective nature adds to the forgotten, mirky vibe of the album. A twisted sense of humour is certainly evident, though never threatening the seriousness of the work.
While the slow building-up of the album may be somewhat taxing for even hardened fans of aural muck, the quality and atmosphere of the music is more than obvious on repeated listens.

A fine release by a rising band, 'The Sunken Threshold' sheds grimey light on the band's talent for the disturbing. More please!