Album Review: Kulk – Choosing To Die (Church Road Records)

Norwich based sludge/doom duo Kulk will release their new album ‘Choosing to Die’, out 28th of August 2026 via Church Road Records.

Coarse and hefty doom fans rejoice! Kulk are back and in a one hell of a mood. A unique band making unique music, Kulk defy all standard genre demands going above and beyond what it means to be a doom and sludge band. Delivering a nine-track showcase of disconcerting experimentation and crushing heaviness.

Are you ready for something cold and harsh?

Rarely does wailing feedback create such a tense feel, but that’s what An Endless Knife offers as an opener. When it finally breaks, it doesn’t get any less uncomfortable and it will make you gurn, either in disgust or pleasure. Whereas We’re Worried About You is a short and sharp example of how Kulk experiment with noise, Being Forgotten expands on that in discombobulating fashion, and Collapse can be best summed up as ugly brilliance. Not only are these tracks clever, not only are they richly detailed, but they’re addictive in their own way.

This is what Kulk do. Create an environment that is disturbing, pack it with incomprehensible musicality, and have it ooze gloom. The sort of noise that should be off-putting, yet it gets under the skin and has long lasting effects.

For Blood is very cool. The synthy intro, the energy increase, the weighty doom, and coarse heaviness, all coming at the listener in waves. The kind that leaves you gasping for air.

I think that’s one of the album’s strongest tracks, and one with a more ‘accessible’ edge. Although the fact that To Take Life has a bit of groove certainly doesn’t go unnoticed, but it’s also Kulk at their most experimental sounding too.

It’s time for chaos to be unleashed in their inimitable way courtesy of The Saddest Holiday. A track of two halves, and one that has a vocal switch up that breathes fresh life into the record. Not that it’s needed, but at this late stage, it does freshen things up ready for Ache, the longest track on the album.

A very personal track and one that fans will be all too familiar with if they’ve seen Kulk play live over the past few years. Here, they delve into alternative territories, while still drawing heavily from the world of noise and twisting it in an even more experimental fashion. It’s a cold and harsh listen, but it leaves a strong impression. Especially as Our Last Walk, the shortest track, is an ambient piece to ease us out.

It might not seem like the most replayable of albums, but take my word for it, you’ll find yourself compelled to listen over and over again. It’s a digestible release, even if the noise and doom aspects suggest otherwise. It’s Kulk and they are in a category of one.

Kulk – Choosing to Die Track Listing:

1. An Endless Knife
2. We’re Worried About You
3. Being Forgotten
4. Collapse
5. For Blood
6. To Take Life
7. The Saddest Holiday
8. Ache
9. Our Last Walk

Links

LinkTree | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Church Road Records