Setting up stall in the crowded doom/post-metal sphere and having ‘pot’ in your bandname means you run the risk of being typecast, but thankfully this Belgian crew have way more up their sleeve than re-recycled Conan riffs. Instead, Raya focuses on trance-inducing emanations; pulsing oscillations and mesmeric drum patterns ripple endlessly outward while meditative chants soften and offset the hammerblow thuds when they finally arrive. Amenra are an apt comparison, but rather than lingering in their countrymen’s shadow Pothamus have chosen to crawl out into the searing sunlight and to develop their own strange identity. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Om, Bong, Amenra
ALEX DELLER