From Bandcamp, “Let the Sun Swallow All” is our debut album, and we're incredibly excited to share it with the world. While a couple of us have other published music, for most of the band this is a first-ever release. We cannot wait to share this with the world, and hope anyone listening enjoys it as much as we enjoyed making it.” The album has six songs. “This Gentle Cold” is first. It eases in, as the title suggests, with what sounds like bombs going off in the background. The main riff kicks in with the thunder of black clouds, and filthy, low guttural vocals. I like the juxtaposition between the weight of the filth, and the clean, ethereal tones.

“A Feast for Rats” is much angrier. It’a almost as if you have managed to piss off the fellas. The pacing is faster, the vocals are higher, and they take the form of incensed screams. This might be how one feels being eaten by rats. “Hallowed By Thy Name” is harder, sturdier, and done with even more passion. That riff is absolutely brutal, and could smash a wall made of steel. For me, it’s a combination of some of the best features of both Doom Metal and Death Metal. “Dying Embers” eases in with clean guitar tones and some background tension. It feels like someone lit a fuse and ran away. When the bomb explodes, it pulverizes everything around it. The song moves through slow clean passages and punishing ones with ease.

“The Last Great Day” is a short little number, with depressive tones. It reminds me of being one of the sole survivors of a nuclear holocaust and the endless loneliness one would feel in that position. The length title track closes the album, clocking in at close to 11 minutes. The mood changes a few times throughout, with bouts of hand-biting anger, and spells of depression. The bass work is excellent in this song as well. The final two minutes are an emotional gut punch designed to level even the strongest of people.

Can Doom Metal be exciting? At first glance, the average listener would probably tell you “no.” But BILEDRIVER’s “Let the Sun Swallow All” is an dangerous and dramatic trip through a door to your psyche that you probably shouldn’t open. Of course, you do anyway, and what you find behind the hallowed halls is that your sanity isn’t as robust as you thought. It will test your will, and don’t open that door with a sunny disposition.