Three years on from their eponymous debut, Metallic Taste Of Blood are in an unforgiving mood.
Well-versed in the unsettling power of bowel-rattling dub bass, particularly when woven into a barrage of harrowing distortion, this ongoing collaboration between Eraldo Bernocchi and Porcupine Tree alumnus Colin Edwin is all about threats whispered from the shadows and terrifying revelations lurking in the mind’s dark recesses. A dirtier and less colourful album than its 2012 predecessor, Doctoring The Dead cranks up the disquiet from the start, reaching a first peak of hazy menace on the woozy title track. But even though these densely-layered instrumentals conjure images of a monochrome world brightened only by splashes of blood and bursts of flame, the space between the instruments ensure that the ride is far more dynamic than initial impressions might suggest. With shades of everything from Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound System to the cosmic mantras of Om, tracks like Blind Voyeur and the superbly named Murder Burger offer a glimmer of redemption via the sheer belligerence of this group’s creativity. Be afraid, but immerse yourself regardless. It’s some trip.
