James E. Gray steps fully into it. “In Doom,” this is more than a song, it’s a descent and a confrontation. Beginning with haunting piano and a brooding, near-whispered vocal from the cutting edge of human existence, the track steadily coils around you. Then, out of nowhere, it explodes into a mutant, bass-heavy chorus that’s as catchy as it is cataclysmic.
A multi-million-streamed artist, songwriter and producer, Gray has never shied away from emotional depth. But here, he sharpens it. The energy is urgent. The mood is epic. There is a lot of anguish in the air. Fans of boundary-pushing acts like Muse, Radiohead, Queen, David Bowie and Dear Sherlock will find the familiar in the song’s theatrical weight and fearless dynamics, but Gray has a voice all his own.
“In Doom” is a record that probes the fragile architecture of reality, the stifling grip of anxiety and the inevitability of death. It’s big bad subject matter, but Gray, he treats it with surgical precision and a heart-beat of a pulse; you never lose that human beat below the distortion.
The allure of “In Doom” is in its contrasts, tender piano versus grinding bass, exposure versus force, introspection against explosive release. It’s dark,and also the opposite of dead.
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