Pegah
“There are certain sores in life that, like a canker, gnaw at the soul in solitude and diminish it. Since generally it is the custom to attribute these incredible sufferings to the realm of rare and singular accidents and happenings, it is not possible to speak about them to others“.
― Sadegh Hedayat, The Blind Owl
As a Doom Metal fan, I adore the vocals, sounds, and lyrics that spiritually mesmerize me. I’ve never felt the need to switch to any other genre to experience such feelings—until Bile Caster’s new EP, Writhing Between Birth and Death, entered my life. Oh man! Sludge Doom is even gloomier, pitch-black, and more profound in a way that penetrates the deepest levels of my soul and scratches it. In my view, there’s an inner voice within all of us, a hidden scream, an unspoken feeling that can never be expressed. Now, I can say that Bile Caster represents that voice, expressing humanity’s exhaustion, confusion, and frustration.
With this new EP, Bile Caster serves as the narrator of a filthy world, illustrating moments of pain and hopelessness so vividly that it’s hard not to be impressed. Writhing Between Birth and Death—as the title already suggests—emphasizes the pointlessness of existence. From my perspective, it shows that the human struggle throughout life is ultimately meaningless. Even the album cover, featuring a human skeleton lying on the ground, reinforces this view. It starkly reminds us that life is fleeting, and in the end, we all turn into piles of bones.
When “Abscess” first resonated in my ears with its high-pitched noise, I felt it as a kind of warning. The downtuned guitars and slow tempo that followed offered some relief, but in “Trapped,” that piercing noise lingered even longer. With a faster tempo in the middle of the track, I was pulled down into a swamp of bitterness. Finally, with “Harrowing”, along with its harsh lyrics and unpleasant imagery, I felt the pain reach another level. The lyrics, simple yet powerful, despise the meaning of life and existence, making it feel as though the suffering was happening to me personally.
All in all, if one day you open your eyes and feel tortured by the repetition of the same situation, if the weight of existence feels unbearable yet impossible to explain, this album will be there to sympathize with you. However, for me, it’s going to be an occasional choice for gloomy days. The nihilistic worldview is intense—so much so that it overwhelmed me!
Label: Road To Masochist/Cursed Monk Records/Eggy Tapes
Release date: 4 October, 2024
Website: https://www.facebook.com/bilecastersludge/
Country: UK
Score: Pegah gave no score, but it sounds like 3.3/5.0 to me!
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