Calcareous Ooze by Ascidiacea is,  according to the press blurb;

Marine Biology Black Metal by two female students of Arctic Marine Biology.

And, the Arctic part of that statement is a pretty damn good description of just what to expect from this five song, twelve minute long debut.

The whole piece is as desolate and cold as Scott’s final steps into the wasteland before he succumbed to the elements, it is the sound of a whiteout filling your senses and snowblinding you, it is the ominous roar of icebergs breaking all around you and plunging onto the cold depths, and it isn’t going to be for everyone.

There is little variation on offer here, as each song sounds – at least to me – to be a musical experiment on the same theme. The guitars repeat the same drone with the occasional change in tone helping you to differentiate between tracks, while the drums follow the same hammer rhythm from the moment they kick in to the final beat of Calcareous Ooze, and on top of this, E’s vocals howl like the bitterest wind, adding a hautingly horrified element to the swirling madness that dances around you.

If you come into Calcareous Ooze expecting Ascidiacea to hold your hand and gently guide you along, then you’re going to be in for a band time.If, however, you like your black metal a primal, brutal, malestrom then Ascidiacea is just what you’re looking for.

Calcareous Ooze is challenging, it is as low-fi as you can get, but it is quite unlike anything else I’ve ever heard, and it is a beautiful wall of noise that just so happens to match the screaming voices inside my head today.

Head on over to the Ascidiacea Bandcamp page and get yourself a copy of Calcareous Ooze for yourself.