Free Metals: Keeper - MMXIV

On MMXIV, California's Keeper offer up some of the heaviest, bone-crushing doom that you will hear all year. Within the first couple minutes of "Hours. Pt 1," you'll easily know whether or not this is for you. And if you like what you hear, prepare to be bludgeoned into submission for the next forty minutes or so. At times, this reminds me of Indian's Guiltless, a record from a few years back that stayed in heavy rotation for quite a while.

Don't be fooled by the somewhat hopeful feeling emanating from the first two minutes of "As It Needs To Be..." It's temporary, for despair and desolation are just around the corner. The punishing riffs and scathing vocals continue for another half hour of impenetrable doom, ending perfectly with the gentler yet no less powerful "All It Needs To Be...Pt.2&3."

MMXIV  is available at Keeper's bandcamp page for the "Name Your Price" option and can be downloaded here.