Florida’s doom and gloom Wharflurch return with their second album Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters. Interestingly enough, on the same day they released this, they released Wharflurch Presents… Swamp Synth, which would be considered a third album. However, that is a synth-only album in which vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Myk Colby did an all-synth release based on Wharflurch songs. It’s quite cool and is excellent background music. Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters sees the band expanding on their 2021 debut, Psychedelic Realms ov Hell, and this is one helluva ride. 8 songs in 46 minutes.
“Death Toll Horror” starts with a synth opening sequence that soon gets into the doomy heaviness that is Wharflurch. Myk Colby is the main man on guitars/vocals and synths, with John Mamo on drums and also vocals, and Cary Smith on bass. But the band now consists of Myk and an entirely new line-up: Stef Wetzel on bass, Jonathan Griffin on drums, and Jerrod Miller on vox. Regardless, this opening song has the monster heaviness we are used to from the band. The hoppy moment at the 90-second mark is especially fun. We get pinch harmonics to boot before the doom hits around the 2.40 section. Sludgy, cavernous, and heavy, just like the Florida swamps, from which the band rises. This doomy moment continues until the end of the song and is depressive and immersive in its heaviness.
“Headless God” is such a great song title. The brooding synths get louder until the music bashes and smashes you in the face, and it hits like dISEMBOWELMENT with the guitar tones and abruptly shifts to the faster moments. The pained and anguished growls are exceptional, as are the bendy guitar riffs. Pinch harmonics are sharp and will slice your body right in half. Galloping death metal madness incites circle pits nationwide. The song slows down and really hones in on that dISEMBOWELMENT influence. A guitar solo, drenched in funeral doom, enters the picture as this song then gets into a slow, grinding heaviness, then back into the speed. One of the very best songs the band has written.
“Revelations ov the Spore Lords” is so damn heavy it moves like a lumbering Lovecraftian entity that is hundreds of feet tall. The song gets into faster territory with squealing guitars and lots of killer cavernous vocal elements. There are some spoken-word vocal moments over the faster parts that are pretty cool. The song slows down and gets slower, heavier, and brooding. This song is drenched in early 90s doom/death metal and another winner of a song.
“Mycodeath and Rebirth / Awakening the Emissary” ends the album at eight and a half minutes and is more instrumental than anything else. There are spoken-word moments, and a very spacey new age feel with the synths. It’s actually a very interesting way to end the album but also coincides nicely with the Wharflurch Presents… Swamp Synth, release I mentioned above.
Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters is a great album by Wharflurch, who has carved out a nice little niche in the metal community. They are pretty original, and the synths add a spacey/horror infused atmosphere to their sound. It’s more expansive than one would imagine. The band is always on pace with creating super colorful designs on all their releases, as they have a bunch EPs and singles too. Plaster that stuff on merch and they will sell like hotcakes. Get this album; it’s original, heavy, and fun to listen to.
