Sick.  Twisted. Acid drenched.  These are just a few of the many adjectives I could use to describe the debut EP "Vergence" by Italian Death/Doom band FERUM.  There is Doom, there is Death/Doom, then these five tracks that drag you down like you're being devoured by a horde of mutated cannibals.  In essence, this is Doom/Death if it was put through a meat grinder.  Over the course of the year, I have reviewed some amazing Doom, Death, and combination therefore of but this one by this three piece metal machine is a behemoth all its own.

FERUM's brand of Doom isn't something that requires a joint and a tie dye shirt-its funneled effortlessly into Death Metal compositions that mix the two genre's perfectly well, striking its fury and unbridled energy.  There isn't any overly long tracks, no prog pretenses, or purple haze to shift through: this band goes for the throat and anything else they can grab. The opening track, "Siege of Carnality," opens with an honest to god catchy riff, backed by a super concentrated hit of the double bass, so densely packed that it pierces the already thick with gritty atmosphere.  Despite being a three piece, FERUM takes up every inch of space and just sucks everything out of it, vomiting the bestial songs back in its place.  The track flows very well, several moments of blinding speed intersected with the slower moments.

The second track, "Perpetual Distrust" features Marko Neuman from CONVOCATION, whose "Scars Across" album also received rave reviews from me.   His own tortured vocals are right at home with FERUM's crushing sound and he certainly leaves his mark on the track; the opening moments gave me goose bumps. Samantha is a beast herself, some of the most depraved and sadistic vocals I've heard in this genre for some time.  Imagine the fervor of John Tardy, the intensity of Chuck Schuldiner, the growls of Mike Perum (CIANIDE) and you MIGHT be able to picture what she sounds like.   She is also a riff machine, a nonstop showcase of abilities that range from slow, thick riffs that have the weight of hell itself behind them to rapid fire riffs that hit as hard as any Death or Brutal Death band I've heard.  The section from 3:26 to the end of song is one of the heaviest pieces of music I've heard this year, no doubt because of the bass which also might have the ability to implode buildings with its sonic vibration.

This is to be expected of course, because none of this would matter, nor would it be very good Doom, if FERUM didn't have a lower end rhythm section. Matteo's bass and Angelica's drums are exercises in brutality and also how to bludgeon while holding up such a monolithic foundation. "Subconscious Annihilation" is easily my favorite track on the album-the riffs are just so goddamn lacking anything less than producing the audio equivalent of being beaten to death by a cinder block.   The ending of the song has very subtle hints of melody but it is raw, almost archaic so it takes nothing away from the void which produced it. The fourth track, "Funeral" is actually a cover of the CIANIDE song.  It is a pretty straight cover but it gets props for being, somehow, even heavier.  I find the drums sound better on FERUM's version as well, and the bass is more imposing in the mix.

The last track claims to be just an outro but you won't find some half-assed minute long ambient instrumental here.  No, you get one last ride of this galloping Death/Doom machine. The lead guitar during the songs beginning moments builds up perfectly to the rampaging speed that takes over the song until about the time Samantha's vocals crawl in, splitting the rest of the song between rolling thunderous Doom and one last balls out speed attack towards the end. EVERLASTING SPEW has released several great Death/Doom albums this year and FERUM's "Vergence," is up there with those or any other label's Doom releases this year.