It has been a real pleasure to work with a proper stalwart band of the UK doom/sludge scene. I remember catching the amorphous GHOLD play at Desertfest many moons ago. Even though they know their way around a sludgy riff, Ghold have always been stranger, more experimental and more explorative than most of their peers. Taking over five years to slow-cook, their latest full length Bludgeoning Simulations pushes their will to chart unexplored forms even further than before. Equal parts doom, sludge, dark ambient, drone, ritualistic chanting, percussive showcase, field recordings and imagined horror film score, Ghold refuse to let the listener get comfortable. Fortunately this gave me lots of scope to unleash something truly eclectic, challenging and frightening upon my trusty journalist friends, and it was pleasure to see so much variety in the reviews and articles that followed.
ACCOLADES
“The score to a folk-horror movie yet to be made.”
~ Metal Epidemic – 4.5/5
“Ghold’s latest is an expansive, trudging voyage through deep, dark reverie. The sonic landscapes shift between dramatic, brutal noise and deceivingly calm ambience.”
~ The Quietus
“Eerie, unsettling, and sometimes scarily apocalyptic. You won’t leave this music without marks on your soul.”
~ Veil Of Sound
FROM THE PRESS KIT
Bludgeoning Simulations begins not with a roaring guitar riff, but with the rousing and dramatic stab of the piano. In what is Ghold’s most explorative work to date, the outfit prepared field recordings and ambient synth loops to act as a sonic bedding to build these six new compositions from. Bludgeoning Simulations finds a strong emphasis on percussion and unified gang vocals, even with additional slide guitar, pedal effects and flute making appearances. Truly a feast for the senses, Ghold ride an expanse that travels from riff-centric rockers right through to lengthy droning soundscapes and eerie ritual ambient. In the band’s own words, “we see this record as a culmination and a sort of tribute to all our previous work and experiences together as a band.”
Released on November 14th on Vinyl and Digital formats via Human Worth.
PR TRAIL 