Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean is a doom quartet from Springfield, Massachusetts. Though the exact year of their formation is somewhat unclear to me, they made their initial mark with their LP, Decay and Other Hopes Against Progress, in September 2017. Since then they have published two EPs: I Carry My Awareness of Defeat like a Banner of Victory in December 2018 and Tell Me What You See Vanishing and I Will Tell You Who You Are in October 2019.

An uncanny aura pervades Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean’s brand of asphyxiating doom. At a passing listen one could potentially chalk the quartet’s sound up to possessing relatively straightforward caveman battering riffs; however, there exists a swathe of spellbinding and skin-crawling textures that lurk within every crevice of their compositions. Pangs of piercing feedback squawk a la dissonant hardcore, and in glimpses, the outfit dissolves into pure blistering noise. Each note thrummed on Tell Me What You See Vanishing… promulgates a keen sense of drowning whereby their molasses unfurling resonates like a fading heartbeat. And the corrosive howls from Chained’s vocalist infiltrate our blood vessels, filling our lungs with noxious gas as we descend further into a fathomless abyss. Oftentimes there is no light guiding us toward a respite. Obsidian depths and suffocating forlornness reign. However, the sorrowful ecstasy oozing from the last several minutes on “Out, Brief Candle” is profoundly poignant.

While this episode is a bit shorter than usual, Connor and I had quite a lot to say about the approximate 21-minute duration of Tell Me What You See Vanishing…. We sincerely hope you enjoy our exchange. Thank you so much for tuning in.