Young UK trio The Deep Blue have already released a 10″ since putting out their Doom Dealer/The Church Within debut EP, Antartic (sic) Abyss and toured with labelmate and doom powerhouse Lord Vicar, formerly of Reverend Bizarre, so it’s pretty clear that somebody likes them. And I can definitely see the appeal. The two tracks that make up Antartic Abyss are solid guitar-led Sleep worship with an Om-type pseudo-spirituality that seems to focus more on overall vibe than particular nuance musically. It’s been done a thousand times before, but it’s still The Riff, and it’s still put to pretty good use.

Both of the 12+ minute tracks on Antartic Abyss are dually titled and the album allegedly portrays a journey from deep underwater to high in the sky — an allegory for feeling down and getting loaded? Maybe, but The Deep Blue steer away from out and out drug references in favor of sparse Cisneros chanting and hypnotic riffing. “Under the Ice/The Resurrection” keeps basically the same course throughout, but if there’s a change from sea to air, it’s in “Haunted Tide/The Freezing Storm,” which about halfway through offers a telling wind sample and more dramatic musical shift. From riff to riff.

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