Vile Creature – Cast of Static and Smoke

Band – Vile Creature

Album – Cast of Static and Smoke

Country of Origin – Canada

Genre – Sludge/Doom Metal

Release Date – March 9th, 2018

Label – Halo of Flies Records/Dry Cough Records

Author – Hayduke X

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, only a few remain. They live insulated by the world around them, behind walls, relying on machines to help them survive. This is the bleak reality created by Vile Creature on Cast of Static and Smoke. This is the soundtrack to slow motion self destruction, fully supplied with a short story of dystopian doom. It is this fantasy world explored by the Canadian duo. While the lyrics are pure science fiction, they are science fiction with a purpose. Earlier releases by the duo dealt with the struggles of growing up queer, and then the use of fiction as a way to escape the demons of life. As someone who used to sit all alone on a tire swing, reading the works of one Terry Brooks, because I had literally no friends, this concept hits me hard.

Fittingly, the music also hits hard. Drawing wisps of black metal and the horrific leavings of sludge to be woven into the bleak tapestry of doom metal, KW (guitars, vocals) and Vic (drums, vocals) hammer us with nihilistic horror. There’s not much hope here (read: none), but the album is incredibly visceral. The pain in the anguished vocals are heart-wrenching. The plodding riffs are unrelenting. The drums hammer misery into your skull.

Cast of Static of Smoke should be listened to in candlelight, with your best headphones, without interruptions, while reading the included short story. Let your mind wander into the darkness.

Recommendation:  Escapism and horror.

Rating:  4/5