Another outstanding black/noise ritual from Cold Spring, following up that punishing Goatvargr disc I was raving about last month. I'm hoping that Cold Spring continues to explore this black metal/power electronics/death industrial vibe that infects both Goatvargr's album and this new one from Deadwood. But where Goatvargr's disc was a demonic tangle of post-industrial black-electronics and crushing breakbeat hatred, this Swedish project invokes a more hypnotic, rhythmic atmosphere. Deadwood is a Swedish project featuring a member of the satanic Black Metal act Blodulv, and this debut full length has six lengthy tracks of ominous low-frequency hypno-distortion-drone and disquieting death ambience. It draws from the grim electronic well of Grey Wolves and Mz.412 while injecting the dead pulsations with a distinctly black metal vibe. These grinding black-noise mantras are augmented by heavy, percussive loops and fragments of acerbic harsh noise, and feature an unsettling vocal performance that ranges from indecipherable muttering in some of the subdued tracks, to caustic black metal style shrieks over some of the heavier, noisier sections. An utterly blackened, bleak, abyssal album of hypnotic necro-trance, like the blurry ambience of Xasthur combined with En Nihil's blocks of rhythmic distortion. Or a black metal Wolf Eyes stuck in an eternal locked groove. Grinding, horrific, tranced out menace. The fifth track, "Wither Sith", actually sounds like Swiss turntablist Strotter Inst. using a scratched up black metal record to create one of his rubbery turntable drones, forming an otherworldly soundscape of tolling bells, a mesmerizing amplified crackle that could either be a needle locked in worn out vinyl grooves or a raging bonfire in the middle of the wilderness, and distorted demonic howls. Pretty amazing, and even more surprising is how hypnotic and restrained the album becomes as you follow it's flow of repeato filth, despite the inexorable, grinding heaviness. Highly recommended.