Album Review: Negative 13 - Mourning Asteri
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Pittsburgh Doomcore crew, Negative 13, have risen from the ashes and, after a change of name, from Negative Theory and a self-titled album released in 2002, the band are ready to start afresh.
Originally disbanding in 2003 and, save for a few shows in 2008 and 2009, it took until 2021 for the core of the band: drummer Chip Reynolds, vocalist Scott Fisher and guitarist Edward Banchs to recruit bassist Mary Bielich and rekindle the old fire.
There is something of the chameleon about Mourning Asteri with Negative 13 wearing many guises through it eight-track duration, but always centred around a groove-laden musical ferocity.
Opener, My Scars are Showing Again takes a hypnotic, pulsing rhythm and adds both an irresistible groove and a monstrous dose of harsh sludge. The result is an earth-shattering commencement to an uncompromising record.
Pain Prism slows things down, bringing in a few post-punk touches to the general chaos on show. Yet between these two songs, sits the abrasive pure punk fury of Never Ending Exit Wound, showing a more raw and direct side to Negative 13’s overall sound.
When compared to the rest of the second half of Mourning Asteri, The Key and the Coat is almost straight-forward, with its accessible groove-oriented progression. Not that there’s anything by the numbers about it, just that the unexpected Black Metal of Parahell was something of a surprise. Scott Fisher unpacking his inner, raw-throated Scandinavian demon as the band serve up some diabolical riffs and filthy atmosphere.
Perhaps more unexpected still it the title-track, a short, piano led piece of gothic ambience, which serves as an extended introduction to Crack the Code’s whole-hearted embrace of the Post-Metallic, down to the echoing isolated notes and domineering rhythms of the genre’s epic stylings. The album’s closer, Villain, reconnects with this widescreen vista, and just as Cult of Luna’s Vertikal has us looking to the heavens come its conclusion, so too does Mourning Asteri find us looking into the vastness of the self for answers.
The band describe their sound as post-punk infested stoner-sludge doomcore but I think this under-estimates their complexities. Rather this is Negative 13’s 2022 take on Heavy Metal, freed of any expectations the band have been able to chart whatever musical waters take their collective fancies. Other bands should take note of and embrace this level of autonomy.
