Bifter – First Impressions Of Hell

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · July 16, 2025

First Impressions Of Hell is a heavy and scorching release from the Sydney, Australian four-piece, Bifter. Consisting of Rory Wheatley on vocals and guitar, Luke Martin on vocals and synth, Nathan O’Hara on bass, and Gus Hart on drums, Bifter is a sludge heavy stoner doom machine. First Impressions Of Hell was released on April 7th 2025 and contains twelve tracks at thirty six minutes. The band put out several singles prior to this debut, dating back to 2023.

The album begins with a spoken and haunting introduction, entitled “Enter Hell”. The thirty second sample gears you up for the massacre that is about to happen. “Slow Burn” has a thick fuzz-dense sound of metal infused with sludge and blended with hard rock. The vocals are viscous and harsh mostly, with moments of cleaner tones. The music is a pile driving wreckage of down tuned riffs and electrifying leads. The band has a heavy groove throughout each devastating track. Songs like “Kianpraty” and the massively doomy sludge monster, “The Flagellant’s Feast”, both deliver bulldozing rhythms and a heaviness that can crush a house. Bifter cycle in some psychedelic passages also into the music which keeps the songs interesting and engaging.

“Doom Shroom” has a heavy driving flow of hardcore with some of the coolest grooves embedded. The vocals are harsh and commanding but everything floats nicely throughout. Next up is another short intro sample called “Lovers Quarrel” which comes right before the excellent, “March Of The Imp”. The heavy yet catchy song is great! It has good marching drums and thick, chugging guitar rhythms. Bifter sounds diabolical on this track, which is bound to get trapped in your head. The third sample is called “Mercy” and it brings us right into “Fury”. Starting with a traditional metal sounding guitar riff, the band crushes through with gorilla aggression and intensity. It’s a good and nasty sounding piece of audio aggression.

“Ball Of Burning Snakes” is a hard rolling riff rider that crosses into more doom territory. It’s an another super intense rocker with a punk fueled drive. The final actual song is called “Belly Of The Beast”. It’s the longest track at almost seven and a half minutes and it totally rips! It begins with feedback and an absolute crushing riff that forges ahead at a determined pace. The heavy doom elements are in full effect with this one. The song is really cool and Rory Wheatley’s vocals are more tamed and have a low key raspiness to them. It sounds great and fits nicely with the nasty vocal parts. The track is a dense and lumbering doom song that totally crushes through and sets up the outro nicely. “Time To Kill” ends this fantastic recording with some strange sampled sounds. Overall, First Impressions Of Hell is an excellent album! Unfortunately, I did not hear this until after my top ten of the quarter was completed. Thanks to Kyle at Good Boy Productions for turning me onto this terrific band.