The original release of Gloomy Lights was already out of print by the time that I discovered the Celtic Frost/Hellhammer worshipping trio of Mika Penetrator, Risa Reaper and Vivian Slaughter, aka Gallhammer, and I've been long looking forward to a reissue of the Japanese band's debut album. Peaceville has gone all out with this, too. The new version of Gloomy Lights is presented in a gorgeous white hardback digibook printed with metallic silver ink and with the booklet bound into the interior of the package, and the disc also includes two previously unreleased songs, "Lust Satan Death" and "Blossom In The Raven River". Pretty crucial if you're fan of these black metal lovin', Amebix/Hellhammer-hailin' ladies.

That this is the first Gallhammer album is pretty obvious once you hit play. The sound is looser, sloppier, slower compared to the more propulsive mid-paced gloom of their last album Ill Innocence. The post punk elements that stood out on that album (the throbbing melodic bass, the gloomy hooks, the chiming guitar parts) aren't as prominent here, although you can still here it down in all of the doom-laden creep and sludgy heaviness. As always, Hellhammer is the first and foremost reference point for Gallhammer's sound. The primitive filthy basement metal of the 'Hammer echoes constantly throughout Gloomy Lights, and the ladies mainly stick to the slow and crawling end of that sound. Vivian's hoarse, ghoulish screams drift over the pounding cavewoman drumming and the wailing, buzzing reverb-drenched guitar, and the songs are all steeped in misery and hopelessness. It's bleak from start to finish, through the cavernous downer dirge of "State Of Gloom" to faster thrashers like "Lost My Self" and the ten-minute doom freakout of "Color Of Coma", all of which is being performed by members of the band that, back when they recorded this slab o' gloom, had just begun to learn how to play their instruments. Pounding, atavistic black dread that successfully channels at least a big chunk of Hellhammer's primitive sound and atmosphere, while rising above being a mere tribute band with the nascent post punk influences and Amebix influence taking form, especially on songs like "Aloof And Proud Silence". Recommended.