Enter the Sludge-caked Doom world of EMBER with their sophomore EP release, Spiritual Dialysis. There are a few other bands out there that share the same name, but there is only one EMBER that sounds like this. Punishingly heavy with sedated slowness on a level different than most Doom out there, EMBER could give SUNN O))) a run for their money. Created by Birmingham couple Eric and Crystal Bigelow, the two sought to create Metal in their own sonic image. And oh, what they created was indeed beautiful!

Spiritual Dialysis is SUMAC meets CHELSEA WOLFE. Both of the two are strong and independent lovers that quarrel almost endlessly, but both end up figuring out a rhythm they can coexist more or less peacefully in. Spiritual Dialysis isn't just a clever name, either. Eric Bigalow, the drummer needs to cover the medical costs for a new kidney, so 100% of all digital album sales go straight to that fund.

The ten-ton bass lines rule the glitchy airwaves of "Duster", burrowing under fuzzed out riffs and in between notes of Crystal's aggressive yet subdued vocals. "Haze" is a thick cacophony of ringing cymbals and far away metal screams shouting incoherence. Dimming the sound and grinding the pace to a fraction of the previous EP's tempo makes Spiritual Dialysis' sound an even more concentrated dose of audio valium than previous releases 271 and 261 combined. Final song "Pale Blue Kiss" is a dark trip into ice cold waters where sirens sing men to their doom amid roiling waves of black water.

EMBER gives off the energy of being drunk and stoned out of your mind while going through a bout of dissociative depression. Things don't appear to be what they seem, but it doesn't matter because over half of you is numb to the touch. For a plunge into unknown rattling depths, pick up Spiritual Dialysis.