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Well here's a little obscurity for you all. Vacuum were around for a few years in the mid-nineties, managing to release a demo, this EP and a split album with fellow Czechs Hypnotic Scenery. This is the only release of theirs that I've heard before they disappeared into the annals of metal history, and it's not too bad at all.

Ignoring one of the weirdest pieces of artwork I think I've ever seen on a metal album (featuring a tsunami crashing through a huge city), Vacuum manage to encapsulate some great atmospheres into this short EP. Whilst this isn't exactly a classic release, it certainly managed to spend a good chunk of time getting repeated spins in my CD player for the old school vibes that flow so freely from it in torrents. Vacuum's refreshing blend of doom/death relies heavily on organ-like synthesizer work, and chugging guitars which bleed an unwholesome aura throughout the main body of the album. There are some great mournfully slow melodic leads couple the main riff guitar (especially in 'Withering Away'), which when laden with the growled vocal work reminds me greatly of early My Dying Bride, brimming with all the same sorrow and self destructivity as you'd expect.

So, for those people out there looking for some gloomy old school doom/death metal, you can do no wrong with Vacuum (if you can find it anywhere nowadays, of course). Just don't expect to be blown into next year by it.