I Kissed the Grace… The Pledge of Cain review

Oozing wretched melancholia; that’s exactly what “We…Martyrs” does, the full-length album released in late 2010 by French sludged out doom merchants The Pledge of Cain. France is very much fertile ground for this breed of sonic molestation in recent years with the likes of Monarch and Year of No Light. With just four songs, “We…Martyrs” clocks in at 56 minutes of staggering filthy doom. Taking much from the obvious influence of Burning Witch, these Frenchmen have made a resolute effort to dial up as many of their key components to the absolute max.

Sheer discordance opens first song “Carriers”, with a crushing impact of drums, taking over from the squealing, weepy guitars, all pummelling their way until after the two minute mark when finally some discernible vocals scratch through the surface. Utterly sickening belches of bile soak the atmosphere permanently for the rest of “We…Martyrs”. Needless to say, the tone has been well and truly set for the 21 minute painful slog of “Magmatic Blood”.

Slowly crawling with sparse drums and deafening guitars, The Pledge of Cain clearly have a sound that they’ve settled on. There are vile passages on this album that are reminiscent of Northern Ireland’s Dwell In Sun with the pace of dissonance and sheer ferocity of the vocals.

“Magmatic Blood” really allows the band to excel in their chosen art with some of the most deathly vomited vocals to be found writhing in agony within its 21 minutes, as well as very faint ambient synths vaguely heard running beneath the din. Eventually building to a devastating crescendo that sees the pace pushed somewhat, it’s easy to hear how this track is the record’s standout.

“Sick of Creeping With Them” again moves at that feeble pace with more discordance colliding with revolting vocals while final outing “I Kissed The Grace” is anything but gracious, bringing the record to a nauseating, pale faced conclusion.

Fans of Thou, and the aforementioned Monarch, will certainly find much to enthral themselves with here. “We… Martyrs” is a demanding and exhausting listen, requiring a lot from the listener to commit to it and to allow yourself to be immersed in its world of dread and mire.

We…Martyrs can be downloaded for free from The Pledge of Cain’s Bandcamp. Recently, the band released their first live album, “Live at Carabar, Columbus”, which includes two tracks from “We…Martyrs” in the set – “Carriers” and “Magmatic Blood”.