#umbersound

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

I love an album I can really sink my teeth into, viscerally and intellectually. UMBERSOUND have big aspirations on this latest offering, 'Tracks From The Slither' (2026), crafting deep strains of mournful doom that stir feelings of sorrow and tragedy over ten thematically interlocking tracks.

"My God, It's Coming From The Ocean!" The title alone of the latest single grips the heart. Lyrically, some of the language strikes Pauline motifs of Christianity ("Lord of the cosmos," "I live for your truth," "You won't forsake me when I rise," "Even death may die") -- though this is in fact a sendback to H.P. Lovecraft's beloved Cthulhu lore. "The follower seeks connection, but what answers back is not comfort," says Umbersound, "it's exposure to something beyond that the human mind can’t handle."

The album is going old school and tactile in every way, complete with recording on magnetic tape (imagine!). I get proud chills at that, with definite flashbacks to my Memorex mixtape days. And, as a side note, I am thrilled by the backlash I am seeing to AI among the youth of today, as well, but I digress. It's time for a mass movement of getting Back To Human again.

The video appears to be of the "old fashioned" editing sort, too (you know, art that takes time, patience, concentration, and joyful sweat). It's murky, unsettling, and very, very wet. There are moments that were appropriately indescribable, because, as old H.P. understood well, words fail when contemplating the Great Old Ones (and one in particular who homes in terrifying black depths).

Brainchild and passion project of New York's Joe D’Angelo (whose band Grey Skies Fallen we have featured in these pages before), it is entirely evident to me that this man knows his doom. The tracks drew me in because they had something definite to say, ethereal places to take the imagination, and didn't overstate their case. This is why concept albums rule, because they tend to take the musician to risky and rewarding artist realms.

The riffs are just killer, from the sick groove of the opening title track to the churning slow grind of "Foundations of Strife," finishing with heart-stopping dread in "The Loop Closes." This man knows his doom and is capable of bringing it to life with subtlety as well as bravura. And you should definitely get to know it, too, oh lovers of doom metal.

Brimming with fire and fury, Umbersound's Tracks From The Slither emerge to dominate your speakers on vinyl, cassette, and CD via Red Book Records on July 17th (pre-order here).

Stick it on a playlist with My Dying Bride, Celtic Frost, Tiamat, Cathedral, Amorphis, Opeth, Paradise Lost, and Katatonia.

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Umbersound is a NYC-based doom metal project created by Joe D’Angelo (Grey Skies Fallen). The music centers on slow, heavy compositions that blend crushing riffs with melancholic, atmospheric textures.

At its core, Umbersound is about introspection—musically and psychologically. The songs move at a steady pace allowing weight and emotion to unfold over time rather than a full assault. Drawing from themes of internal struggle, avoidance, and consequence, the music reflects the parts of life people tend to ignore until they can’t anymore.

Rather than offering escape, Umbersound creates an immersive space where listeners are pulled into dense soundscapes shaped by analog warmth and stark melodic contrast. Each song builds on this approach, pushing deeper into a sound that is both oppressive and reflective.

With Tracks From The Slither, Umbersound continues to evolve—focusing on the slow emergence of buried thought, anxiety, and identity. The album will be available digitally via Bandcamp, with physical editions—including vinyl, cassette, and CD—released through Red Book Records.

Umbersound‘s upcoming album “Tracks From The Slither” expands further into psychological terrain, exploring avoidance, internal decay, and the consequences of neglecting one’s inner self. Much of the album was captured in single takes, prioritizing instinct over precision and allowing each moment to exist as it happened.

Tracks From The Slither by Umbersound

“Tracks From The Slither” continues UMBERSOUND’s yearly release cycle - each record evolving in process while remaining rooted in the project’s core doom atmosphere.

This time, the approach shifts toward a raw, analog-driven methodology. Nearly the entire album was recorded through tape, pushing saturation to the limit. The result is loud, dirty, and heavily textured—an intentional departure from a cleaner digital production in favor of something more raw this time around. The record leans into a heavier sonic weight than previous releases, with more screaming vocals as opposed to clean. The tape machine itself becomes part of the album…the harmonic saturation that shapes the album’s character.

The sound evokes the feeling of discovering a lost late reel buried in a vault - something unstable, and almost cursed. That sense of an unearthed presence runs throughout the album. Performance-wise, “Tracks From The Slither” strips away the extra bells and whistles. Much of the material was captured in single takes, prioritizing instinct over precision. The goal was not perfection, but directness - committing fully to each moment as it happened.

Tracklist:

1. Tracks From The Slither 2. The Hands That Built Beauty 3. Foundations Of Strife 4. My God, It’s Coming From The Ocean 5. It Still Breathes 6. The Loop 7. Shifting Tides 8. The Gnawing 9. Highway Of The Fever Dream 10. The Loop Closes

Recorded and mixed by Joe D’Angelo. Mastered by Acle Kahney at 4Dsounds. Album Cover by James Hutton.

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