Cancervo – III
Cancervo – III
Electric Valley Records
Release Date: 29/03/24
Running Time: 32:31
Review by Oli Gonzalez
5/10
Born in the lands of Italy, Doom Metal trio Cancervo derive their name from an iconic mountain in their home country. Being on the eve of their third release, the band are now looking to ascend to new heights with their new offering which is succinctly named “III”.
Proceedings open with a solo organ piece in the aptly named ‘Intro’. It reminds me of being at church, or some kind of psychedelic nightmare. It’s hard to say. Then the bass and guitars that are both drenched in fuzz and distorted goodness make their way into the mix during ‘Sacrilegious Mass’, if that’s your thing. In the Doom Metal genre, you’d expect something heavy and in your face, much in the vein of Candlemass however the mix just seems too thin and there’s an uncomfortable emptiness there with the things far too thin on the ground. Luka’s guttural half spoken vocals don’t really work for me either, lacking passion and venom. Sounding like Peter Steele if he had a major hangover after a night on the ale. After 3.5 minutes, there doesn’t seem to be much advancement on the same basic rhythm employed. However, things improve from a musical standpoint in ‘Burn Your Child’. It’s much more encouraging to hear something more groovy and thicker in texture, with shades of Candlemass here. The first 3 minutes or so are still in that same Doom Metal style, before things take a significant directional shift at the 3:30 mark! Much faster, urgent, and thrashy in its appearance, this is much needed. Same at the end with a much faster and Andreas Kissier style Wah Wah solo adding a nice dose of adrenaline. The drum and bass hold the fort nicely to provide this platform. Still, the vocals lack any real passion, substance or emotion. Just listen to the repeated message of “burn your child” in the chorus and you’ll see.
‘St Barnabas’ returns to this standard Doom Metal template which sadly feels a little tired and tested at this stage. There are some attempts to mix up the tempo and overall texture but it feels like it’s a few minutes too late. A fairly respectable ending with a decent guitar solo, mind. Would things be different for the final song, ‘The Red Pig’? At this stage, it’s sadly hard to really sustain any enthusiasm. Now, things slow down from a glacial drip right in the middle of the song with a much more interesting ambient passage! This adds a sense of mystery and intrigue, something that’s been sorely missing up until now. That ending guitar solo! Francesco’s clear talent surely needs to be leveraged A LOT more in future releases! Please do so, Cancervo!
Overall, this was sadly not what I was expecting from a Doom Metal album. It feels too minimalistic at times and almost like they’re going through the motions, despite some rare moments of quality. Moments which really ought to be optimised in future releases. No new peaks or ranges will be conquered with this effort, but rather some training and planning at base camp is required for such future releases.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Intro
02. Sacrilegious Mass
03. Burn Your Child
04. St. Barnabas
05. The Red Pig
LINE-UP:
Luka – Bass & Vocals
Francesco – Guitars
Sam – Drums
LINKS:
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