Artist: Lugubrious Garment
Country: Italy
Label: Nuclear Winter Records
Formats: Demo Tape / CD Demo
Year: 2025
Honestly, if this demo tape wasn’t released on Nuclear Winter Records, I am pretty sure I would’ve never heard it. Maybe it’s short-sighted or even just plain stupid, but just as certain artwork can trigger you, both positively and negatively, the same goes for band names. And, to put it bluntly, Lugubrious Garment isn’t exactly an appealing name. I couldn’t suppress a chuckle. What could this lonely Italian possibly mean?
But thankfully, Nuclear Winter Records is a little more forgiving when it comes to names like that, because otherwise I would almost certainly never have listened to this demo. And that would have been a shame, because Gabriele Gramaglia (also Cosmic Putrefaction and a few others) has delivered a pretty solid demo tape with this new project of his.
The sound of the band depends somewhat on which angle you approach Lugubrious Garment from. Metal-Archives calls it Black/Death/Grind, which is a bit of a stretch, as the Grindcore component is so minimal that even with the best of intentions, you can’t really include it. The tradition of blending Black Metal and Death Metal is even older than that defined and structured nomenclature, but Lugubrious Garment keeps it musically within the boundaries of what may be called the modern variant. Bands such as Dead Congregation and Grave Miasma have paved the way, but there are now countless bands playing Death Metal with a pitch-black edge and a deeply doomy and gloomy character. That is exactly what we are presented with here by this Italian one-man band.
It may not yet have the overwhelming grandeur and crushing persuasiveness of the two bands mentioned above, but all the vital elements are there. We hear a very dynamic soundscape in which rolling drums and memorable riffs form the main part, but where multicolored vocals provide the finishing touch. Those vocal antics go in all directions, the deepest grunts are reminiscent of Incantation, for example, while the icy screams have a much clearer Black Metal connotation. Also noteworthy is the solid production, which ensures that the dynamics in the songs come across well, all instruments are clearly audible, and the atmosphere in the music is well supported. All of this is poured into three songs that, despite the band’s giggle-worthy name, together form a great start for the band.
