Belgrade based, post-Sludge five piece Nula are rather intense musically. With beer and dope, along with some filthy and heavy sounds as their main influences and being billed as something for fans of Cathedral and Type O Negative, there are some promising signs for this band.

Musically, this three track E.P is filthy and loud and surprisingly like the descriptive use of the word sludge – thick, viscous etc. It starts off with some serious low end thunder and doom laden groove elements with some haunting melodic lines to give the opening track “Trosenje Tela” a real atmospheric edge and the vocal delivery (all in Serbian) is pretty lively too, going from clean to growl with little transitions needed, making it all feel rather natural.

“Silazak U Prah” brings a slight shift to the musical delivery. It gets more weight and groove behind it, not quite metalcore-esque, but definitely leaning in that direction. With more emphasis on the pacing and the melodic aspects, the still rather heavy track flows well and it has that vibe which is well suited for headbanging or the serious posing of crossed arms and nodding in approval throughout it. With some more dissonant elements to the sound towards the end of the track, it ends well and has a seamless transition into the last track, “Usnvo, Savrsen, Sam” which continues the pseudo-metalcore/sludge delivery. This track though, tends to wander into almost prog like territories with some real Tool-like drumming in the instrumental sections and some real aggressive metal friendly moments.

The whole sound, as mentioned above is heavy, there is no denying that… But it isn’t totally sludge like. Sure, you have the shades of Weedeater in there, the thick and nasty, heavy sludge… But the musical sound does sit well with the more atmospheric and colossal elements of Type O Negative, and there are even hints of Mastodon and Lamb Of God in there. It is a rather intricate mix overall, and it does have promise to it.

Whilst not overly stand-out nor unremarkable, it’s somewhere in the middle. Not quite essential, but packed with promise for future releases.

(6/10 Fraggle)

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