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When Rhode Island threesome Pilgrim released their debut LP, Misery Wizard, in 2012, it sounded like it had been cranked out on an assembly line in some foreboding doom-metal album factory.
In a culture where metal bands seem to delight in fucking with genre and adherents’ expectations (see Liturgy, Deafheaven, Kvelertak, et al.), Pilgrim remain conservatively faithful to core tenets of school-of-Sabbath heavy metal: big riffs, crushing drums, that plodding sense of impending doom. II: Void Worship follows Misery Wizard’s druggy, doom-by-numbers approach, cleaning up the Wizard’s vocals a bit and further drawing out the sluggish riffing. Satisfying as it is in its old-school simplicity, its songs never really go anywhere, not so much resolving as dissipating like a foggy chuff of dope smoke.
Still, if you’re predisposed to like this sort of thing, you’re bound to cram Pilgrim’s sophomore record in your ceramic reaper bong and smoke it.
Top track: In The Presence Of Evil