Let’s not beat about the bush here – ‘Excavation’ sounds exactly like its cover art looks: a noose on a black background. A concept album, meant to represent the journey after death, The Haxan Cloak (Haxan means witchcraft, in case you were wondering) puts doom-ridden drones next to electrifying judders, and there’s even one track that starts off with yelling. Unsettling to the extreme, this makes Blackest Ever Black’s ‘The Night Of The Burning’ sound like a children’s tea party. Spine-tinglingly brilliant.
8/10
Words by FELICITY MARTIN
