The Album Of The Week is 'Life's Trade' by Samothrace. Review: First Cough, then Thou, then Samothrace - it's a great time for American sludge/doom. Why this Lawrence, KS outfit named itself for a Greek island is unclear, as it sounds distinctly American. Big slabs of downtuned dirt abut melodies that recall Earth's leanings towards Americana. In fact, this record might satisfy those disappointed by Earth's recent refusal to drop the hammer. It has the soul - the jangle, the blues - but it also has the weight, constantly shifting tectonic plates so that slow never becomes static.

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These tracks are 10 minutes plus, and they feel much shorter. On only its debut, this band has mastered the momentum that makes good doom much more than just slow tempos. (Add Renata Castagna to the list of worthy extreme metal axewomen.) Producer du jour Sanford Parker turns in a reliably thick, naturalistic recording. David D'Andrea refracts the floral/angelic theme of Tom Denney's previous artwork for Samothrace (which is extremely similar to his cover for Sourvein's Ghetto Angel) into a lovely gold/black package. The LP version comes in double gatefold vinyl with a poster (gold vinyl limited to 150 copies); mailorder copies include a patch and sticker. This is yet another killer release this year for 20 Buck Spin, who have a spiffy new label/distro website.

Invisible Oranges) Track Listing: 01. La Llorona 12:27 02. Awkward Hearts 9:59 03. Cacophony 11:19 04. Cruel Awake 13:33.

Rating: 8.5/10 Some lightbulb had to have gone off in the collective brain of Samothrace, as this might be the first legitimate combo of sludgy, c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g to a s-t-a-n-d-s-t-i-l-l doom that is so melodically competent, it makes the snail’s pace of the Life’s Trade all the more worth it. Funeral doom this is not, but instead a concoction of the atmospheric haze we’ve come to adore from Isis and Pelican, all immersed in suffocating shell of bleak emotion.

And it’s not like we haven’t seen bleakness across the board (hello classic My Dying Bride), it’s just that Samothrace are one of the few that consistently whittle down one’s spirit with the slightest of touch. It’s sorta reassuring, to be frank. Consisting of only four, Life’s Trade is laborious, but stays on top of things with swirling, dreary melodies that are akin to what early Gothenburg death metal was doing. Soft, subtle leads rain down on opener “La Llorana,” only after a steady diet of Bryan Spinks’ muddled vocals. That Isis/Pelican cross-reference is there on “Awkward Hearts,” a minimal, sparse slow jam that would never gets out of first gear and that’s fine – let’s take it slow and let those melodies (we’re going to overdo this) work their way in. Its successor, “Cacophony” is a bit more brutish, but has that wide open space that keeps the guitars of Spinks and Renata Castagna out in the open and closer “Cruel Awake” rounds out the album in a smoldering pit of ash. So good is Life’s Trade, that we didn’t make the stupid little name-connection between former Emperor guitarist Samoth and an actual race.