Promising an esoteric shade of cosmically sourced labyrinthine horrors on this debut 12″ mLP release Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based death metal quartet CAVERN WOMB retain their deliberate, slow-burning groove centric flow enough to pull ears within reach of the prog-death tendrils they’ve got lying in wait all over this thing. ‘Stages of Infinity‘ offers a trip, a ride, a jog through a surrealistic but not unheard of landscape and in the process of mapping out the way forward does well to develop expectations for a “new old school” prog-death ebb to continue to develop in their hands. Though they’ve not presented a profound direct-to-skull statement herein just yet the cosmic cartography taking place yet entertains to a considerable, well-curated degree and should ping the ears of folks interested in todays neo-kosmische death metal sounds as well as the old eyeless corpse of Finndeath grooves.

Cavern Womb formed circa 2019 with a sniper’s aim for a cosmic horror themed form of ‘old school’ inspired death metal which was obviously curated either with some experience or sense enough to side-step the usual afterthought riddled aesthetics of nascent death metal bands with a well-curated vision up front. From their first release, a split mLP with Noxis (‘Communion of Corrupted Minds‘, 2021), they were whipping out pretty solid mid-to-slow paced death metal with bump or two of synthesizer weirdness, nothing as brutal as Timeghoul or whatever but clearly inspired by the standard presented via bands like (early) Blood Incantation and Tomb Mold where niche-level interest in atmosphere and meandering grooves made for a notable enough touch. At the time I figured they were ultimately aiming for something more death-doom oriented though this style, which they’re now referring to as “esoteric”, takes notes from better defined portals on this first official release.

You’ll feel those main points of inspiration from the moment opener “Exultation of Depraved Majesty” begins to make its case for its ancient sci-fi mystique with its ever-shifting grooves and general sense of meandering, run-on statement as the flow of ‘Stages of Infinity‘ brings the main juxtaposition explored on Cavern Womb‘s split release in far more exaggerative terms. From simple walking backward grooves to a doomed-in-orbit stretch beyond ~3 minutes into the song they’re already showing the work done in between releases with this one and making good on the promise of slow and estranged movements that’d been a big part of their gig early on. “Amber Scourge” continues down this chunk-heavy path in terms of the riffcraft, chopping out spaced melodies beneath escalating leads. Their main points of inspiration are fairly obviate but that isn’t yet the extent of their oeuvre developed for this record, though they’ve already justified the “cosmic” death metal tag given to their work on show flyers etc. thus far. and puts their work somewhere nearby that of bands like Phobophilic and Gutvoid per the first impression made.

There are a couple ways I could describe a standout song like “Cryopreserved” but I suppose the progressive metal dip in the middle of the song and the Finnish death metal groove that ties things off collectively point to the greater rub of Tomb Mold‘s discography as the song presents its sojourn while inserting its own exaggerative touches, such as the synths that rouse in the midst of this mid-song stretch. The general dramatic fixation of classic progressive death metal sidled up next to some of the weirder, wild-eyed Lovecraftian wheeling of early 90’s Finnish death metal groove gets us there just as easily but the additional context of “A Vessel For the Esoteric” ensures we’re not necessarily stuck in the total ‘old school’ only state of mind. They’ve done well to guides us further from the expectations set by the opener and the unusually chopped-at grooves of “Amber Scourge” and in this sense ‘Stages of Infinity‘ develops its overall velocity with a bit of patience, a pretty lax approach to pacing from moment to moment but always a substantial path traveled.

Though the end result isn’t as avant-garde or prepared to reach outside of the box into their own just yet it doesn’t mean that Cavern Womb haven’t impressed with this debut. The full ~25 minute spin of this mLP represents a leap ahead, an easy ride through, and a trip which’d fared well on repeat as the greater prism of their work begins to fully solidify within this release. It also helps quite a bit that the Shoggoth Kinetics album artwork is especially distinct, ripe with water-colorful vibrancy and all the gnarled, imaginative detail a trained death metal eye would expect. Once again it seems these folks have all the right notes in terms of presentation, production values, overall taste level and general classics-focused interest which amounts to a well above-average result that knows its audience (or, is its audience.) From my point of view the only thing left to develop is a specific knack for songcraft or unique artistic voice to behold within the consistent points of interest mapped out thus far. A high recommendation.

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