Batillus

The band, which formed as an instrumental trio and later added be-dreadlocked vocalist Fade Kainer (Inswarm, Jarboe, occasionally Mans Gin), have unleashed a monster in Furnace. With one guitar, one bass, one set of drums, one vocalist and a host of effects and synths, they set up posts along a range of heavy-footed doomscapes - which, contrary to the albums title, actually sound quite cold - managing to incorporate some of post-metals progressive ideology while almost completely avoiding the now-clichd traps of that genre. Fans of Suma, Unearthly Trance, Ufomammut and other drone-conscious neo-doomers will want to take note of the four-pieces methodology, impressive and punishing in equal measure as it is.