I SHALT BECOME is a black metal band from Illinois, United States that formed in 1995.  Before this promo came to me, I had never heard of them.  During my research, I discovered their first album, "Wanderings," is considered by some to be a genre classic that laid the blue print down for DSBM.   The band is actually a one man project from S. Holliman.  It has now been reissued and brought back to life by Moribund Records.

While I'm not sure it is the total classic that some believe it to be, I can definitely hear the early rumblings of DSBM within this album.  The production is rough but for the dark and depressed atmosphere of the album, I think it works rather well. Musically speaking, there isn't a lot going on here.  I'm not saying that as a bad element; what I mean to say is the music is rather simple.  It is immediately obvious that Holliman put mood and atmosphere before anything else.  And you know what?  That's awesome.  As a doom fan, which has much in common with DSBM, I too prize those elements above anything too complicated or flashy.

This isn't anything you really head bang to or drive your neighbors crazy with.  The music sort of creeps up to you, then inside you, and envelopes your senses and mind.  It is more meditative and reflective so it may require a certain mood for some to get into. But if you can take the time to really let it wrap around you, you'll find an audio hell on top of a landscape that is prepared to take you onto a journey into the heart of darkness.

The intro sets the tone for the rest of the album.  It consists of clean instrumentation and kind of just languishes around, using subtle textures to drive forward. Silence sets in for a few seconds after "Intro" ends before "Fragments," starts the album off with the first proper song. Clean guitars build the song up over a minute before truly sick and oppressing guitar riffs just settle in with a suffocating blanket. The vocals are just as sick, sounding like blackened shrieks dragged over gravel. The music progresses ever slow so slightly with minor changes here and there but it kept my attention.

Some of the songs are not quite as monolithic.  "Winter Lights," doesn't have the long build up and is instead built around one main bass riffs.  With that being said, the riffs are more intricate here and change more often.  The drums are the highlight, landing their crashing beats at just the right moments on the right notes. "Labyrinthine," has Holliman speeding up the process somewhat for a nice change in tempo at the album's halfway point (give or take).  The double bass is quite a bit more focused on supplying more brutal elements and the vocals are so pain filled I thought they might give out.

"Insects," is a dirty, nasty song with guitar riffs that scrape across whatever grime found below.  Vocally, it is barely human and all this comes together for a surprisingly freighting song that at the very least is disturbing. But Holliman's ability to use such extreme measures to evoke extreme moods and still make it listenable remains in tact. All in all, I enjoyed my time with "Wanderings," as it was interesting to see the beginnings of an entire style.  I don't know if this is something I would listen to  often as I think there are many more modern bands that do this better but the genre is built upon this very solid foundation and this album deserves that respect.