Album Review: Bocc – Demolarium

Album Review: Bocc – Demolarium

Reviewed by Sam Jones

It’s been a minute since I experienced some new, crushing death metal and out of Catalonian Spain, from Barcelona, we have Bocc with their second full length album Demolarium, due for release September 11th. Formed in 2019 Bocc have been strongly active, releasing a wave of EPs, Singles, Splits and that’s even before they unleashed their 2022 debut album: Dolça Mort En Els Ilims Del Rec Comtal. Peppering the following years will more, smaller releases Bocc now return in style with that aforementioned second album, Demolarium, via Night Terror Records this time. Listening to snippets I knew this was a record I wanted to check out firsthand and come its release date, I’m confident already many more will want to do just the same.

If you’re after something possessing a crushing sound then Demolarium is instantly a record you’ll want to check out. Whether you’re looking for a heinous guitar tone or basslines thick enough to rupture the universe, Bocc bring that in drives and then some. Before a single note even begins you can feel the weight the hanging resonance and atmosphere provides, which becomes only stronger when the songwriting does kick in. I will say though that for all its heaving mass, Demorium isn’t so heavy that it’s difficult to follow the songwriting. I was always aware of Bocc’s presence and the presence their riffs had but I always managed to see where the band were taking me. It never got so hard on my senses that I couldn’t discern what was next nor what had just transpired.

Since the band liken themselves towards death/doom metal their tempo isn’t some dramatically racing affair, rather Bocc apply a far steadier, trudging momentum akin to wading through some miasmic swamp where one feels the air clinging to them, and all the odious detritus beneath weighing them down. Granted, a rapid tempo wouldn’t have worked for Bocc’s songwriting since speed would have seen the impact of their riffs and crushing sound completely dissipate and lose impact. However it’s worth noting their songwriting changes up more than most doom acts would, with succeeding sequences of different riffs, new routes taken etc. Bocc therefore allow themselves far more leeway in writing longer tracks with a steadier tempo because the audience isn’t going to feel bogged down in songwriting that would otherwise leave them wanting for something new.

Death/doom is typically associated with great swathes of horror, of unending bouts of inescapable dread. Bocc’s stance of songwriting however dials it down a touch so the horror inherent isn’t so complete, rather you can see it round the corner. Bocc’s brand of death/doom utilises the macabre much more than outright horror; the record doesn’t portray desolation and madness so much as it does encroaching futility; you can fight as long and as much as you’d please but your fate was determined long ago. It’s why the riffs have this piercing, slicing aesthetic, separate from the band’s otherwise crushing demeanour, and shows sections where the guitar attack drops entirely to make way for hideous basslines and vocals wretched from the netherworlds.

Arguably the most standout feature on this record are the vocals. Though the instrumentation is great and does what it should on a death/doom record, the vocals are the driving force. I appreciate that they’re removed from the instrumentation because, had they been on the same wavelength and crushing style, the record would be at risk of merging every component into some homogenised, corporeal mass where little could be identified and respected for what they bring. The vocals are these monstrous, boisterous and bellowing howls that take the band’s macabre doom into more vicious territories. Much of the songwriting stays on the level you’re first introduced to it as whereas the vocals move this way and that and on steeper inclines pending on what the songwriting requires.

In conclusion, Demolarium is a ruthless and heavy record that showcases Spain’s extreme metal scene, one that many often glance over when considering the greater European scene. Instrumentally it’s something you’d heard before a few times now but when you throw those vocals into the fray, Bocc summon a death/doom attack that champions the macabre, that penultimate step before you’re thrown into free fall nightmare. It is a crushing album, the kind you’ll instantly be on board with should that cavernous style be something you’re affiliated with, thankfully it’s not so crushing that folk unaccustomed to this style won’t be turned away; in fact they may be welcomed into its grasp. Demolarium has some longer tracks too but the band use enough changes in songwriting to keep things fresh and alive, though I do think it’s overall length is just right before your attention may start slipping. In all, a fine addition to Spain’s extreme metal catalogue.

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