From Bandcamp, “NEGATIVE 13 is post-punk infested stoner-sludge doomcore.” The album has six songs, and the first is a short instrumental lead in. The sound is low, slow, and heavily weighted, leading to “Casket Trail.” This song moves a little faster, and the vocals are shouted. The riff is fairly simple, and it follows in the footsteps of BLACK SABBATH. You can also hear some Punk elements, especially in the vocals. “The Vulture Circles” has some effects in the leading guitar riff and flows forward with a lot of energy. Anger also rears its head, and the punk elements are more noticeable.

“Horizon Divides” has a dissonant opening riff that descend back to that greasy, sludgy, filthy sound once again. I also get a bit of CROWBAR here. The slowed down, clean passages are quite laden with Doom, and he croons, “I have this constant feeling, like I’ve been here before, but it never plays out the same.” If you listen close enough, you can also hear some light phasing issues. “Devil in Your Head” is the longest on the album, clocking in at over nine minutes in length. When it comes to some of the clean vocals, I hear some Henry Rollins influence. The main riff in the song shifts from Doomy chugging to more energetic passages, highlighting the desperation of the music.

The title track closes the album, and it’s another energy infused song with a few phasing issues once again. Oddly enough, these types of issues can just be considered standard for a lot of Punk bands. Ultimately landing somewhere between the heavy Doom of BLACK SABBATH, the Punk fight of BLACK FLAG, and the Sludge of CROWBAR, this album was pretty desolate. However, it didn’t offer much in the way of opening your eyes to new music, and even its influential core has been done before. It just didn’t stand out, is the bottom line.