A man and his guitar...that's what you get on the third release from Xasthur's multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Scott Connor under the Nocturnal Poisoning moniker. Doomgrass is decidedly rootsy, bluesy, folky, and yes, it's so bleak you can say it's a tad doomy as well. There's no black metal to be found anywhere here, just gorgeous folk guitar passages than more often than not dip into country, bluegrass, and straight blues, which for the extreme metal purists will be a bit of a shock, but there's no denying some of the beauty to be found here. Conner's vocals are dripping with emotion, and there's a very 'personal' feel throughout these 14 tracks. "Illusion of Worth" is especially lovely, as the deft finger picked guitar lines just float through a haze of Conner's pained vocal strains. Those into acoustic guitar playing will love some of the instrumental tracks that focus just on his haunting guitar melodies, which are all nicely crafted. With an album of this nature however, things can tend to meander a bit due to the almost 'one note' element, and Doomgrass does fall into that trap from time to time, as the tone & tempo of these songs doesn't vary much, the bleak feeling just carries over from song to song making it a challenging listen at times. That being said, it's kind of cool to hear him in this capacity, which is as far removed from his black metal side on the Xasthur releases as you can imagine, and the acoustic guitar work here is well worth a listen.
Track Listing
01. Slowly Passing Through
02. Prisoners Of Their Own Needs
03. Doomgrass
04. Starstruck By Garbage
05. Bet It All
06. Source Of Survival
07. Fight For Another Life
08. Illusion Of Worth
09. Old Light
10. Closure In Reach
11. Vagrant, Seeker Of Empty Treasures
12. Can't Find The Sky
13. Running Out Of Highways
14. Question The Screen
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