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I've been digging on this one for weeks. Oracles is a highly atmospheric workout in slow, mideast-flavored Doom Metal that does an excellent job of evoking lost places and ruined cities, caravans in mystic deserts and trackless pathways under ancient stars. The key word here is mood, and Zaum do that very, very well. One of the band's 'gimmicks' is that they don't actually play any guitars on here, though I have to say I really did not notice that, as they play the bass chords with a level of distortion that makes it sound like a really, really heavy downtuned guitar. It gives the proceedings a very different and distinct sound, especially when combined with the echoey and haunting vocals. This is much more meditative and even kind of minimalist than crushing, and toward the end it noddles off and becomes too spacey for my tastes, but I keep coming back to it.