Dublin doesn’t usually leap to mind as a hotbed of doom metal, but Electric Taurus are currently heading up a healthy scene that includes bands like Engines Of Ruin and Mongolia.
On Veneralia, the three-piece make a fine fist of co-opting the constituent parts of Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet and fellow worshippers Sleep to create a set of heavy, heavy tunes marked by an unshakeable belief in the deathless power of a monolithic riff. If at times they can get a little too repetitive for their own good, their better moments pack in ideas by the bus-load.
The near 12-minute Mescalina/If/At The Edge Of The Earth, for instance, morphs from strange, atmospheric drizzle into a full psychedelic shower with some terrific gurgles of guitar from leader Matt Casciani. Similarly, Prelude To The Madness is a chaotic marriage of sludgy Sabbathisms and the kind of rattling boogie blues more associated with Canned Heat.
