The last time we had heard something new from Richmond, Virginia's Cough was about three years ago when their bassist / vocalist, Parker Chandler joined Windhand and the two released a killer split together, Reflection Of The Negative. Now that Cough have delivered Still They Pray, six whole years after their previous full length, the picture about them is getting sharper: as time progresses Cough do too and Still They Pray is not only their best work to date, but one of the best sludge metal albums of the last few years.
From its haunted-by-Electric-Wizard opener, Haunter Of The Dark (listen below) to the brilliant acoustic title track which wraps up the album an hour later, Still They Pray wins on every level. Clearly a contender among the year's finest, the album was produced by Electric Wizard's Jus Oborn, it gets better with each listen and marks a milestone in Cough's hypnotic course through the slow, psychedelic part of the extreme metal world.
Mandatory note: Hit play and turn up the volume...
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ZR