Bandcamp Hermit Dreams is what happens when members of the Norwegian extreme-metal underground, Diskord, Aspherium and Celestial Scourge among them, decide the death-doom rulebook needs more strings, more space and a good deal more strangeness. Desperate Anomies is their debut, and it wears its oddness openly: eight tracks of atmospheric death/doom threaded with folk textures, synth pads and flute-like melody lines, the heaviness always shadowed by something older and stranger. Colin Marston’s master keeps it organic and un-brickwalled, and that honesty is the record’s foundation. This is a band caught breathing in a room, not sculpted into a wall.
At its core the songwriting works the classic death-doom contrast, and works it well. “Directionless Gaze” swings from intimate acoustic passages into full-width riffing, “Reach for the Void in Despair” pushes an atmospheric, sludge-shaded post-metal weight, and “Lorn Apparition” opens real space with clean vocals in its midsection before the growls close back in. The drums are natural and un-triggered, the fuzzed bass often takes the low end as its own growling instrument, and the harsh vocals stay present without floating unnaturally above the mix. The folk and synth colours never feel pasted on; they are woven into the gloom.
The reservations are textural. The recurring low-mid congestion around 200 to 400 Hz thickens the densest passages and costs some definition, and the closer “And Now What..?” is a deliberately murky, fuzz-drowned drone-doom instrumental that trades all clarity for oppressive weight, a bold full stop that will lose as many listeners as it grips. It is the one moment the record’s experimental streak tips past atmosphere into endurance test.
Desperate Anomies is a characterful, organic, genuinely distinctive death/doom debut that earns its weirdness, and its willingness to fold folk and drift into the crush is exactly what sets it apart from the pack. Anyone who likes their death-doom with an experimental heart, the corner where Diskord’s oddness meets funeral-folk gloom, should give this the patient listen it rewards. Strange and heavy in equal measure.
Atmospheric death/doom threaded with folk textures, synth pads and flute-like lines, kept organic and un-brickwalled by Colin Marston’s master, a band breathing in a room rather than sculpted into a wall. The classic death-doom contrast is worked well: “Directionless Gaze” swings from intimate acoustics into full-width riffing, “Reach for the Void in Despair” pushes a sludge-shaded post-metal weight, and “Lorn Apparition” opens space with clean vocals mid-song. Natural un-triggered drums, a fuzzed bass that growls as its own instrument, present harsh vocals. Reservations are textural: recurring low-mid congestion around 200 to 400 Hz thickens the densest passages, and the closer “And Now What..?” is a deliberately murky fuzz-drowned drone-doom instrumental that trades clarity for oppressive weight, a divisive full stop. Distinctive and heavy.
Standout tracks: Directionless Gaze, Reach for the Void in Despair, Lorn Apparition
