Ravine – Chaos And Catastrophes

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · July 23, 2025

Ravine formed in 2018 and deliver a mammoth dose of sludge heavy doom metal goodness. The lineup consists of Nico Schmutz (Robots of the Ancient World) on guitar, Justin Morgan (SkullDozer) on guitar, Matt Amott (Wölflaut) on drums, Dylan Wills (Brick Bath) on bass, and Paul Dudziak (Mammoth Salmon) on vocals. The five-piece just released their debut full length album, 2025’s Chaos And Catastrophes on Ripple Music. They have released a four song Self Titled EP in 2019. Chaos And Catastrophes was released on June 20th 2025 and contains five tracks at forty eight minutes long.

A drum roll start into the thrashy “Deliver” begins Chaos And Catastrophes. Ravine waste no time brutalizing your ear drums with their heavy, crunchy, and doom-laced sound. The mid pace start to the song brings back the old school metal vibes from the late eighties. The vocals have a raspy tone and carry out a hardcore essence, aggressive and gruff. However, right before the two minute mark, they transition as if to end the song, fade out into feedback, and then kick into this massive doom barreling riff. The setup was great and felt like dark, storm clouds reaping overhead, with the guitar starting the slow and devastating doom riff. The vocals of Paul Dudziak are raw and brutal. They blend well with the eruption of fuzz heavy riffage.

Ravine creates long songs where they cement those riffs into your skull. The second track, called “Conjure” reaches ten minutes and it destroys. Beginning with a lumbering build up of sludge dense rhythms, the song flows along methodically and almost hypnotizes you. After the intro riff, the song shifts into a more chugging and mid tempo groove, as the vocals enter. The band keeps things fairly straightforward and simplistic, sonically speaking, and it sounds terrific! Grinding out the thrash rhythms, Ravine has ripping riffs and guitar leads also. Both Nico Schmutz and Justin Morgan do a fantastic job delivering the fuzz and pushing forward the heavy. The pauses of guitar feedback are reminiscent of Eye Hate God or Acid Bath and they drop another heavy-ass groove just after seven minutes. The drums and bass begin this funky rhythm as the feedback blankets over. The band jams out this riff, circulating leads and heavy psych twists underneath it. Ravine has the dynamic repetition of a riff covered, consistently building upon it and crafting a narrative of devastation with their music. As is the case with “Ennui”. The track takes on a slow and brutalizing beat down of sludge filled doom. The tortured vocals sync in well with the distorted pounding of the song. They proceed to mix in other immense riffs as it forges forward with the power of a freight train.

“Prophecy” is another crushing song. It begins with a cool bluesy psychedelic rock rhythm that morphs right into a monstrous doom riff. The thick as molasses guitar sound and thunderous drumming are a perfect combination with these songs. Chaos And Catastrophes is a great album to let out some rage and aggression to. The swampy and thick sound with the angry vocals has a healing effect on me when the mood calls for it. The fifth and final track is called “Contagion”. It starts out thrashy and then rocks into this hammering and heavy chugs of rhythm. It’s another humongous soundtrack that complements this recording nicely. The bass break towards the end is nice, as it kicks into the next riff and plays out to the song’s completion. Ravine are on a rampage with Chaos And Catastrophes, so bang your head and break things. It’s a heavy and delightful listen that deserves to be heard.