#acausalintrusion — Public Fediverse posts

Dwelling Below – Wearisome Guardians Review

By Spicie Forrest

The boys in Dwelling Below get a lot of facetime here at AMG. We’ve reviewed Hierarchies’ debut (Jared Moran, Anthony Wheeler, Nicolas Turner), all three albums by Acausal Intrusion (Moran, Turner), one by Filtheater (Moran), and we’ve done a filter piece on Feral Lord (Moran, Turner). It’s no wonder, as we tend to enjoy the angry, dissonant stuff they put out. I’ve been jonesing for something in that ballpark, so when I learned that Dwelling Below’s debut unnerved Thus Spoke enough to waive seniority, I quickly snagged their follow-up. Hoping it might hit the spot, I eagerly dug my grubby lil nubbins into Wearisome Guardians.

Dwelling Below was a filthy slab of long-form deathened doom, and Wearisome Guardians offers much of the same. Look at that cover art. It sounds exactly how you’d expect: like bathing in stagnant catacomb water. Cavernous, mad, and malevolent, Moran echoes through abandoned tombs, disturbing centuries of eight-legged architecture. On the skins, he nearly wakes the dead with frenetic onslaughts of double bass and unsettling cymbals. Turner’s guitar stillbirths an unholy union of Saint Vitus and Autopsy. Warped and abrasive riffs lumber forward, inexorable and lethal as a cave-in, while tormented leads scream psychosis from a neighboring cell (“Terminal Experiments,” “Sacraments”). Ever-so-slightly discordant basslines weave and coil around your ankles as Wheeler encourages a reexamination of your sanity. Like meeting a skinwalker, you know something’s off, but it’s hard to describe, and it’s fucking terrifying.

It’s a little oxymoronic to call 1.) dissonant 2.) death/doom 3.) metal accessible, but Wearisome Guardians is perhaps Moran’s most approachable offering yet. His aforementioned acts all shove their base genres through the same twisted, dissonant lens, but compared to Hierarchies or Acausal Intrusion, Dwelling Below is almost melodic. Between chaotic, atonal passages and vicious whammy abuse, Turner employs more traditional riffcraft learned long ago at Candlemass (“Wearisome Guardians,” “Terminal Experiments”). Leads in “Unfolding Universe” and “The Altar” reveal traces of Brocas Helm and Cirith Ungol, while “Sacraments” reaches further back, unearthing the legendary B.B. King for a solo, soulful, bright, and blue. These ancestral trappings are strung with care and shine brilliantly against Dwelling Below’s murky core. Wearisome Guardians offers these moments of reprieve from its oppressive violence, like guiding lights coaxing you deeper into the dark.

At 51 minutes, Wearisome Guardians isn’t terribly long for the genre, but with an average track length of ten minutes, it certainly isn’t a casual listen. Luckily, songcraft is not a weakness Dwelling Below suffers. Far from sedentary, Wearisome Guardians is in constant motion. Most riffs only linger a few moments before evolving into something new or reverting to a main throughline. Even when a riff tarries longer, the bass, drums, or vocals twist and shift, keeping things fresh and engaging throughout. More than this, each song seems built around clearly defined movements. Even on a first listen, I could guess my place in a song fairly well. There’s an intuitive logic to each track’s pace, allowing Wearisome Guardians to feel lean and efficient with no real fat to trim. Even the 90-second “Interlude” belongs. What initially feels like a respite reveals itself to be just as unsettling as the rest of the album. Bright and metallic, this moment’s tainted rest doesn’t let you forget what’s on the other side.

I wished for some grimy, cavernous filth, and I got it. Wearisome Guardians is a menace to experience. I honestly thought it hyperbole when Thus Spoke said their debut induced fear, but exaggeration it was not. Even with bright moments that fractionally lessen the tension, Dwelling Below is still deeply unnerving. These casket campers know what they’re doing, and they’re good at it. Wearisome Guardians is a strong success on both atmospheric and compositional fronts. Dwelling Below doesn’t just want to show you the dark. They want to leave you there without a torch and seal the tomb. This sophomore effort is claustrophobic, sepulchral, and evil. Wearisome Guardians is viscerally unsafe, and it’s here to break you if you’ve got the nerve to let it.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

#2025 #35 #AcausalIntrusion #AmericanMetal #Autopsy #BBKing #BrocasHelm #Candlemass #CirithUngol #DeathDoom #DeathMetal #DoomMetal #DwellingBelow #FeralLord #Filtheater #Hierarchies #Oct25 #Review #Reviews #SaintVitus #TranscendingObscurityRecords #WearisomeGuardians

Dwelling Below -Dwelling Below Review

By Thus Spoke

I don’t know what exactly it is that’s Dwelling Below, but if it’s anything like whatever the cover art is depicting then I’m afraid. Beneath the surface, the music of this debut self-titled also lends itself to feelings of unease and apprehension. Formed from members of Acausal Intrusion, Hollowed Idols, and Sermon of Rot, Dwelling Below lurks in the dark and viscous slime of doomy blackened death. Where cavernous bellows resonate over slippery sinister riffage, whining guitar lines slide in and out of the gnashing, grinding chords, and bass drum rumbles with ominous severity. Combining the brutish sludginess of the ugliest of death-doom, and the hostile discordance of extreme metal’s dissonant side, Dwelling Below is about as heavy as it gets. Its mad art and pedigree calls, so let’s dive in.

Across just four songs, Dwelling Below makes good on its portentous promise. That weird synth that opens “Attraction Vulgarity” begins and I’m already afraid. And the repeating patterns of creeping scales and sudden descents from cacophonous blackened death into crawling doom that follow for the next 37 minutes continue this omnipresent feeling of unease. The particular style of gurgling bellows, cavernously echoing alongside lurching guitar, ringing with dissonance frequently recalls Defacement (“Attraction Vulgarity”), while the snakelike solos and general malevolent aura are reminiscent of Qrixkuor (“Swallowed,” “Sheltered Acceptance”). There’s also plenty of high-strung string manipulation and anxiety-inducing technicality you might expect from the affiliated Acausal Intrusion (“Emergence Sublimation”). These elements come together quite magnificently (by which I of course mean horrifyingly). Naturally slipping from speed to slowness, and from eerie—almost melodious—refrain to densely clustered mania.

Dwelling Below really succeed in crafting songs that feel coherent and parsable whilst still being chaotic, unconventional, and inaccessible. We’re not talking verse-chorus-verse here of course, but the songs each have a somewhat cyclical structure that gives you something to cling onto amidst the snafu. All songs revolve around several central patterns or theme, whether that’s a series of low panic chords (“Swallowed”); a chilling guitar descent (“Emergence Sublimation,” “Sheltered Acceptance”); or returning skids into a ringing, d-beat charge (“Attraction Vulgarity”). The music’s overall unfriendliness causes the rare moments of true melody to break the surface with thrilling immediacy. From the high, churning guitar gradually rising in “Swallowed,” to the mournful descending tremolos in “Emergence Sublimation,” and the genuinely beautiful refrain that arises in “Sheltered Acceptance.” When the guitar solos come, their high pitch, and warped, psychedelic wobble has the effect of a mad cosmic snake twisting over the churning, cavernous depths—mesmerizing (“Attraction Vulgarity,” “Swallowed,” “Sheltered Acceptance”). The whine of feedback and the echo that haunts the beginnings and ends of tracks, likewise adds closure and cohesion, as well as atmosphere, to each piece.

Extreme metal always treads the line between sufficiently intense and too overwhelming, and Dwelling Below gets this just right. It might be dissonant, and wonky, and creepy, but Dwelling Below know exactly when to pull out of the blastbeat spiral for some (equally unnerving) soloing (“Emergence Sublimation”), or haunting death-doom (“Sheltered Acceptance”). A slim 38 minutes, the album is a mad world you’ll gladly return to again and again. Yet while the whole is digestibly short, the songs feel just a bit too long than they ought to be, none dropping below eight minutes and three out of four exceeding nine. Their smooth internal transitions and gripping episodes make for a powerful force as a four. Divide the four songs into six, and these eerie specters would cast an even longer and darker shadow than they already do.

When extreme metal is good, it really makes you feel something. Dwelling Below makes me feel fear, which I believe may have been at least part of the intention. Dwelling Below’s practiced pasts are fully on display here. Its distorted themes, cavernous atmospheres, and satisfying, stomach-churning technicalities also make it very fun to listen to. Even if you are looking over your shoulder while you do so.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Website: dwellingbelow.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: December 8th, 2023

#2023 #35 #AcausalIntrusion #AmericanMetal #DeathDoom #Dec23 #Defacement #DissonantDeathMetal #DwellingBelow #Qrixkuor #Review #Reviews #TranscendingObscurityRecords

Dwelling Below -Dwelling Below Review

By Thus Spoke

I don’t know what exactly it is that’s Dwelling Below, but if it’s anything like whatever the cover art is depicting then I’m afraid. Beneath the surface, the music of this debut self-titled also lends itself to feelings of unease and apprehension. Formed from members of Acausal Intrusion, Hollowed Idols, and Sermon of Rot, Dwelling Below lurks in the dark and viscous slime of doomy blackened death. Where cavernous bellows resonate over slippery sinister riffage, whining guitar lines slide in and out of the gnashing, grinding chords, and bass drum rumbles with ominous severity. Combining the brutish sludginess of the ugliest of death-doom, and the hostile discordance of extreme metal’s dissonant side, Dwelling Below is about as heavy as it gets. Its mad art and pedigree calls, so let’s dive in.

Across just four songs, Dwelling Below makes good on its portentous promise. That weird synth that opens “Attraction Vulgarity” begins and I’m already afraid. And the repeating patterns of creeping scales and sudden descents from cacophonous blackened death into crawling doom that follow for the next 37 minutes continue this omnipresent feeling of unease. The particular style of gurgling bellows, cavernously echoing alongside lurching guitar, ringing with dissonance frequently recalls Defacement (“Attraction Vulgarity”), while the snakelike solos and general malevolent aura are reminiscent of Qrixkuor (“Swallowed,” “Sheltered Acceptance”). There’s also plenty of high-strung string manipulation and anxiety-inducing technicality you might expect from the affiliated Acausal Intrusion (“Emergence Sublimation”). These elements come together quite magnificently (by which I of course mean horrifyingly). Naturally slipping from speed to slowness, and from eerie—almost melodious—refrain to densely clustered mania.

Dwelling Below really succeed in crafting songs that feel coherent and parsable whilst still being chaotic, unconventional, and inaccessible. We’re not talking verse-chorus-verse here of course, but the songs each have a somewhat cyclical structure that gives you something to cling onto amidst the snafu. All songs revolve around several central patterns or theme, whether that’s a series of low panic chords (“Swallowed”); a chilling guitar descent (“Emergence Sublimation,” “Sheltered Acceptance”); or returning skids into a ringing, d-beat charge (“Attraction Vulgarity”). The music’s overall unfriendliness causes the rare moments of true melody to break the surface with thrilling immediacy. From the high, churning guitar gradually rising in “Swallowed,” to the mournful descending tremolos in “Emergence Sublimation,” and the genuinely beautiful refrain that arises in “Sheltered Acceptance.” When the guitar solos come, their high pitch, and warped, psychedelic wobble has the effect of a mad cosmic snake twisting over the churning, cavernous depths—mesmerizing (“Attraction Vulgarity,” “Swallowed,” “Sheltered Acceptance”). The whine of feedback and the echo that haunts the beginnings and ends of tracks, likewise adds closure and cohesion, as well as atmosphere, to each piece.

Extreme metal always treads the line between sufficiently intense and too overwhelming, and Dwelling Below gets this just right. It might be dissonant, and wonky, and creepy, but Dwelling Below know exactly when to pull out of the blastbeat spiral for some (equally unnerving) soloing (“Emergence Sublimation”), or haunting death-doom (“Sheltered Acceptance”). A slim 38 minutes, the album is a mad world you’ll gladly return to again and again. Yet while the whole is digestibly short, the songs feel just a bit too long than they ought to be, none dropping below eight minutes and three out of four exceeding nine. Their smooth internal transitions and gripping episodes make for a powerful force as a four. Divide the four songs into six, and these eerie specters would cast an even longer and darker shadow than they already do.

When extreme metal is good, it really makes you feel something. Dwelling Below makes me feel fear, which I believe may have been at least part of the intention. Dwelling Below’s practiced pasts are fully on display here. Its distorted themes, cavernous atmospheres, and satisfying, stomach-churning technicalities also make it very fun to listen to. Even if you are looking over your shoulder while you do so.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Website: dwellingbelow.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: December 8th, 2023

#2023 #35 #AcausalIntrusion #AmericanMetal #DeathDoom #Dec23 #Defacement #DissonantDeathMetal #DwellingBelow #Qrixkuor #Review #Reviews #TranscendingObscurityRecords