Band:	Eremit
Album:	Wearer Of Numerous Forms
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	June 2023

01. Conflicting Aspects Of Reality
02. Entombed In A Prism Of Blindness
03. Passages Of Poor Light

Eremit’s charm across their first 2 records has come from pushing basic song concepts to and beyond their sensible limits, and in doing so transforming them into gargantuan songs that appeal both because of and in spite of their simplicity and lack of speed. With Wearer Of Numerous Forms, Eremit take things even further, but some things can only be pushed so far before they break.

My review of 2021’s Bearer Of Many Names was probably one of the most enjoyable to write for the site; part of that was due to how such an excessive record leant itself to fun descriptions, but part of it was because it was a genuinely engaging record, even if it did include a song that consisted of only a single riff for a whole 18 minutes. Nevertheless, Bearer Of Many Names and Carrier Of Weight already felt like they were at the extremes of what could realistically be done in this sound, and yet for their next outing, Eremit have not only upped the ante, but they’ve done it in a massive way; once again, there’s only 3 songs on the record, but those 3 songs run for a combined total of 132 minutes, with opening track “Conflicting Aspects Of Reality” almost as long as either of the preceding records.

Now, as much as I’ve liked Eremit before, 132 minutes is a herculean ask of a listener; there’s records out there of a similar length that have received positive receptions, such as Elysian Blaze’s Blood Geometry, but it really puts the onus on the band to justify that length. To start with, the songs can’t really be as invariant as the likes of “Dry Land” and “Secret Powers Entrenched In An Ancient Artefact” were; Dopesmoker admittedly managed to ride what were effectively 4 or so riffs for an hour, but even it would have struggled to do it with just one. In an effort to spice things up, Eremit have expanded their line-up, with Hendrik Bredemann turning the German outfit into a 4-piece by joining as a trumpeter: a bold instrumental choice for a sludge funeral doom group.

The first thing that anyone will notice about Weaver Of Numerous Forms is the length; the second thing I noticed was the volume. I’ve been listening to this through Spotify, and I’ve found myself needing to turn my device’s volume up by a substantial amount compared to other songs to listen to this properly; that could be a fault on the part of the streaming service, but I also had a try with the Bandcamp stream, and it seemed to be at a comparable level. If this quiet volume is something that resulted from the production of the record, it’s an unusual choice to make for a band whose appeal rests largely on the sheer crushing force of their lumbering riffs, but it more so brings issues with the really quiet parts of the songs; even at maximum volume, I was struggling to hear what was happening in parts of this album. It won’t be an issue for those in possession of superior audio equipment, but it might be a hurdle if your listening set-up isn’t particularly powerful.

Beyond the volume, what are these songs actually like? The easiest to start with is the shortest, which is middle song “Entombed In a Prism Of Blindness”, clocking in at a bitesize 21 minutes. The track has stretches of slow, ponderous funeral doom, but its core is a grim mid-tempo sludge groove; skip to any point in its runtime, and you’ll be confronted by either the core riff or lumbering glacial distortion. It’s a decent track, but I’m not sure its central riff is quite strong enough to build a song of this scale around without more variation.

It feels peculiar to try to summarize my thoughts on opening song “Conflicting Aspects Of Reality” in a paragraph or two, considering it’s longer than most albums, but while it does have a sufficient lack of diversity to make such a task possible, it’s also got more variety than a standard Eremit song. I must confess that Bredemann’s trumpet is easy to miss for large stretches of this record, but the eerie, distorted, sustained blasts from the trumpet that punctuate the descent of this song from rampant blasting to thick crawl in its first quarter-hour are intriguing. After this point, the next 15 minutes are near-silent, featherweight drums placidly keeping things moving alongside atmospheric clean guitar tones; the volume issues do present a challenge in really appreciating this, but even without, I think the limits of what’s compelling are reached and exceeded in this passage. The subsequent half-hour features stretches of distortion that are borderline drone metal, alongside more structured pounding sludge doom.

Comparing this song with the two previous albums, I don’t find it to be as compelling as either; while it varies more than some of their songs do, each particular passage is a bit short on memorability compared with what Eremit have previously been capable of. In contrast, 47-minute closing song “Passages Of Poor Light” has a bit more substance to it: the eerie clean opening, the almost Amenra-esque force of the first explosion of volume, the volcanic funeral doom and tranquil ambient post-rock that follows it, and the almost rocking up-tempo riffing in its closing stages. It’s a song that has the variety and ideas to potentially justify its runtime; my only major qualm with it is the peculiar appearance of vocals in its latter half akin to the intolerable exclamations used by Chip King in The Body, alongside the usual growls and screams the group use.

Weaver Of Numerous Forms is a good enough album to leave to fill the background while doing something that will take 2 hours and require most of your attention, but for a more committed listen, I don’t think it’s quite strong enough to recommend that anyone block out the time necessary to work through it. With the possible exception of “Passages Of Poor Light”, I feel like each track would have worked as well, if not better, if the ideas comprising them had been condensed to half the length, and even then, I’m not as taken with them as some of the band’s previous songs. Eremit were already an acquired taste, but with this record, I think their appeal will be even more selective, and not necessarily for the right reasons.