The Polish project Mountain Of Misery, led by Kamil Ziółkowski — known for his work with Spaceslug, O.D.R.A., Palm Desert, and as the founder of Electric Witch Mountain Recordings — has just released a new album.
The album confidently walks the line between doom, post-metal, shoegaze, and grunge, without falling into the usual trap of overused ’90s references. Yes, there are familiar riffs and motifs, but they don’t feel secondary. On the contrary, thanks to smart production, those elements actually serve the atmosphere rather than weigh it down.
Kamil does everything himself and you can feel it. Each track feels personal. This is not a showcase of stylistic gimmicks but a sincere, well-constructed body of work. It avoids pretentiousness, while still paying close attention to detail and honoring the genres that shaped its sound. Despite drawing from a variety of styles, “Shades Of The Ashes” doesn’t strive to be experimental — instead, it feels natural, balanced, and refreshingly current.
Amidst the plethora of releases where form has long since begun to trump content, this album is a real pleasure to listen to. Not because it does something radically new, but because it is made with a sense of proportion, taste and intrinsic motivation and that’s rare these days.
“Shades Of The Ashes” is available digitally and on vinyl and, most pleasingly, at an adequate price on the project’s Bandcamp page. If you’re tired of cookie-cutter doom metal — this is worth your time.
Band’s links: Bandcamp, Facebook, Spotify
