Review of Deprivacija - Dugne

I can’t say I’m overly familiar with the Lithuanian blackened doom/sludge scene, but the debut, Dugne (seabed? bottom of the sea?) from Deprivacija certainly holds some promise if the rest of the scene is as competent.

6 songs, 55 minutes, a gritty, feedback laden, gravelly guitar tone and delivery despondent slower, crawling riffs and pained raspy screams will give this some appeal to the  Thou/Leviathan crowd as well as the eyehategod, Nux Vomica, Lord Mantis fans. A few bursts of blackened crust fury (end of “Šukės”) might even reel in the Celeste/Deluge gang. But for the most part  this is a crawling, depressive affair with a DIY tone and delivery that’s effective and honest.

It does not have the most powerful or cavernous guitar tone, but it’s raw and filthy and the vocal howls and shrieks certainly give everything a nastier feel. There’s a very tense atmosphere permeating everything as well, even the acoustic bridges in aforementioned standout 12 minute opener “Šukės”, give me a case of the willies, as they either build to a icky crawl of savage black metal outburst. “Nerminas” starts with more unsettling acoustics that segues into a bruising, sickly lope and “Sociapatas” starts with a ominous bass line before a crawling mess ends with a odd but pace breaking thrashing section.

Another standout, “Skaumasi” starts with a fairly traditional discordant sludge trudge, but at about 1;50 it takes a really haunting turn and delivers a quite nauseating crawl for its final 4 minutes. Its a sign that while relative unknown in the genre, they know their way around some really creepy sludge structures. “Krentu”, is the point in the album where I start to wander and get a bit exhausted with the tense atmosphere and shrieks, but it does change things up with a more weird, angular, crunchy pace.

Another 12 minute track, “Ramybės”, ends the album and it reels me back in with more slow burning, harrowing blackened sludge lopes. I just wish it had peaked or climaxed rather than deliver the same riff over and over to close and otherwise pretty darn good album and a strong example of the genre from a surprising source.