The always confidently tasteful label Caligari Records released a new gem. More than thirty tape releases, and it’s California’s GLOAM who delight us with their first full length on tape, limited to 175 copies. What does this new band have in store for us listeners? Just good things, of course! “Hex Of Nine Heads” offers us an hour of Dark to Black Metal, with class and style. It’s not just pure Black Metal, it’s a blend of blackness, where Blackgaze meets Epic Doom and avantgardistic moments. Thus it is no wonder that most of the songs on “Hex Of Nine Heads” are rather long, two of them even surpassing the ten minutes mark. The first of them is the opening tune after a long acoustic intro. ‘Where Freezing Winds Forever Blow’ turns out to be a very variable epic that shows all the multiple faces of GLOAM. The following ‘Torrents Of Blood’ is much more rooted in classical Black Metal, especially in the opening section, before the blackness turns into a more relaxed, Shoegaze styled mood. Next up is ‘Execration Trance’, a rather short tune with some breaks all the way, that best depicts the Black Metal face of GLOAM, with the following shorter instrumental ‘The Spectral Wound’ as the anti-thesis, so to say. A song that nearly missed the ten minutes mark is ‘Corporeal Torment’ that turns out to be a wild ride through the spheres of musical blackness, showing all its facets. The other extra long song is the closing title track. The monolithic ‘Hex Of Nine Heads’ is a musical ride through vast landscapes, dark at heart, with some hints on …IN THE WOODS at some times, and it needs to be mended with an again acoustic outro. So, for all those who like their Metal dark and epic, with some abysses and rides through musical landscapes, GLOAM should be very pleasing, even though it takes more than one or two times listening to “Hex Of Nine Heads”. But once it hits the brain and the stomach, this album will unfold its special magic. To find out if you’re one of those to like GLOAM, check them out at gloam666.bandcamp.com, where you can check out their two demos as well, or www.facebook.com/gloamshroud. For the dedicated label, please visit caligarirecords.bandcamp.com or www.caligarirecords.com. Just to listen, order or give them a “like”…