OSSUARIUM is an American Doom Death Metal band who have crawled out of the darkest corners of Portland, Oregon. After one demo and a split with DRAGHKAR, OSSUARIUM have returned with their debut full length, "Living Tomb."  I was surprised to learn this information-the band sounds like they have been together for a long time and I was fully expecting during my research that they had a least four or five albums under their belt.  With that said, the individual members have done other stuff with bands such as TROLL, GRAVE DUST, HREINN, and LOWERED.

Although I don't think they sound like either band, OSSUARIUM has that slow grinding Doom influenced Death Metal sound like ASPHYX and INCANTATION. After a creepy intro, "Blaze of Bodies," throws down some riffs that could move a glacier.  Vocalist Daniel Kelley and Nate McCleary have a bone crushing tone to their riffs and they are adept at switching between those low rumbling riffs and faster, more intense Death Metal parts.  Often times, the two genres are combine, an unholy concoction of deep despair and anguished torture.  This track is a fine example of what this genre is capable of.

Kelley's vocals, a low throaty growl that sounds like it is coming from some lost pit, only improve the atmosphere.  This album does two things very well.  First, it takes that atmosphere and runs with it.  When they go long periods just smothering everything in their path, the band's sound just envelops you with a tight, crushing grip.  "Vomiting Black Death," does this so well, the first three and a half minutes or so is one big wall of sound, like a super extreme Metal version of PINK FLOYD or a dark take on sludge bands.  The simple but effective keys/synths that are sprinkled throughout the passages make the song that much more creepy and disgusting. Jeff Roman's bass and Ryan Kroger's percussion kick the sound up a couple of notches as the intensity builds into a showcase for Death Metal brutality, which is the second thing they do so well.  The moments were the band shifts from Doom to Death, and vice versa, are just so goddamn visceral.

"Writhing In Emptiness," begins life fast and eviscerating and settles into a destructive groove, highlighted by Roman's bass and Ryan's fancy footwork.  Halfway thru, the barest hints of cold melody peak out from the darkness and a clean guitar passage is born from this new awakening before the distortion sets in, ambient in feel and tone.  Even though it is a stark change in pace, the two halves of the song just go so well together as both are darkness born, just a different shade of it. The showcase for the album are the two parts that make up the "End Of Life Dreams And Visions."

Together, they form a mini Death Doom epic although separately they are quite different in their approach.  The first part is a shorter, more intense song that focuses on a cascading rain of caustic riffs and a slow, dredging atmosphere highlighted by some more well done synths.  The second part is almost double the length.  Much like the first part, this one is meaty riffs wrapped up in darkness but there is a longer clean passage and some tempo changes that really make the song seem like it is growing, albeit into a twisted body of deformity.I'm a huge Doom fan any form it takes and this album is one hell of a journey into the heart of darkness, not to be taken lightly but definitely to be taken wholly.