One of the things that I've always really valued about droney doom metal is its ability to genuinely terrify the listener. As I sit here listening to Dronestown, I realize that Shadow of the Torturer have truly done it, they've managed to craft a record that is distinctly disturbing and all the more powerful because of it. The colossal bottom end and frightening trudge of Dronestown makes it a record that is not meant to be taken lightly and in fact leaves you beaten and bloody. Make no mistake, this is heavy metal music to annihilate your soul.
As the bass provides its frankly frightening trudge at the beginning of Indianapolis-Ukiah you get a sense for the inhuman might of this band. There is a strange sense of orchestration on this record too, as evidenced by the melodic and powerful passages that help to keep the record exciting and unique. The guitar lines here are finely crafted, formed to give the listener a complete doom metal overdose. The growls are unholy and evil, they reek of the darkest pits of hell. Yet, perhaps the bands greatest triumph is the apocalyptic and soul wrenching epic, We Are Righteous People-Guyana which uses some very weird sound bites to create a 20 minute plus epic that leaves you questioning the role of religion in middle America.
Dronestown is an artsy record, yet that is part of what makes it so intensely interesting. These guys aren't following any of the traditional rules other than worshiping the riff. Somehow though, Dronestown finds a unique niche in the ever-growing doom scene. The chunkiness of these tracks is admirable and I think that as musicians the guys in Shadow of the Torturer have a great understanding of how to craft melodic content. This is the sort of record you find yourself immersed in and then suffocated by. Dronestown is oppressively heavy and it just might knock you out.
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