CONAN - Revengeance

Quick note: This is an expanded version of the short review which appeared at #25 on the January 2016 Doom Chart. (Doom Charts on facebook)

Like a marauding warlord, the band Conan has never lost ground but have only added new territory with every album. In the case of their upcoming full-length, the band's third, that newly gained territory consists of increased percussive dimension. This is the result of new rhythm section Chris Fielding (bass) and Rich Lewis (drums).

Now, I had no problem with the work that Phil Coumbe and Paul O'Neill did on 'Blood Eagle', I did give the album a perfect rating after all. It was straight-forward and to the point the way you would imagine a direct assault would be from the band's namesake. 

But it's also true that as the stories of Robert E. Howard's iconic character progressed, he learned to use his skills as a thief on the battlefield. As time went on, the raging barbarian became an astute field general. 

The same is holding true for headman Jon Davis. Where once a battlecry and full-on sprint across the open field with broadaxe held high would suffice, the band finds itself in new territory, looking before they leap and thinking themselves around corners. Once the enemy is met however, the attack is just as deadly and decisive as ever.

Where ‘Horseback Battle Hammer’ documented a beast awakening into a violent world, foggy and lumbering, ‘Revengeance’ is a final shaking off of the cobwebs. Jon Davis and his band are capitalizing on lessons learned through 10 years of musical conquests to stunning effect. The battle rages on, this time the tactic is guerilla warfare which gives the band a new, progressive tinge. And they're still one of my favorite bands.

‘Revengeance’ will be released on January 29 by Napalm Records.

Conan on facebook

GET IT HERE

Aleph Null – Nocturnal (album review)

Aleph Null is an A1 band.  They were one of the first doom/sludge bands that I discovered on bandcamp.  The 'Dale' E.P. was the band’s opening statement and it spoke volumes.  What sold me as an impressionable doom/sludge youngster was the massive guitar tone which drew me back to it continuously.  “Kill the Colossus” in particular is now one of my all-time favorite songs.  “Dale” and “Protogrammar” are no slouches either.  Then came the ‘Belladonna’ E.P. [read the Paranoid review], early last year, which was a psychedelically-tinged change of pace.  The tone was still there but the overall mood had brightened some.  ‘Belladonna’ was capable of thrilling the listener too, with an ever present threat looming that all the psychedelic brightness could slip into a bad trip at any given moment, but my distinct impression was that it was a lighter effort than the chain and shackle-dragging ‘Dale’, and the colors!  Oh, the colors …

Now comes the debut full-length.  Proving themselves to be as restless as ever, ‘Nocturnal’ finds the band reveling in their weighty tone and simplifying things musically, or rather containing them.  I would chart the band’s progress like this:  ‘Dale’ found the band pissed off and brooding, ‘Belladonna’ went cosmic, while ‘Nocturnal’ is Zen, reason in the face of chaos.  In many ways it’s the story of the mental and emotional development of any young outsider from mid-teenage to late twenties.  It’s the backstory of the individualist, the type of character that I like and identify with.  Aleph Null is an easy band to root for.

Simply put, ‘Nocturnal’ is an incredible album.  I’ve had a number of conversations about it already with some online buddies and everyone seems to agree that this album is insane!  “Backwards Spoken Rhymes” is the best new song I’ve heard in ages.  Ages!  Not since Alice in Chains released the song “Grind” in advance of their ultimately disappointing self-titled album back when I was in the ultimately disappointing Grade 9 have I heard such a powerful single that cuts to the heart of a band’s sound.  Chugging riffs and close harmonies are enough to melt my butter every time, but when they’re this good, the stuff just gets flash fried.

And how do they follow up on that potboiler?  With “The Muzzle of a Sleeping God”, that’s how.  A steady stomp and snare march bleeds into a cowbell driven rhythm, punctured by a slowly developing melody during the verse.  Again, this is reason in the face of chaos.  The relatively simplistic rhythm which drives the bulk of the song creates a brilliant conceit for showcasing the complex idea of the segmented verse before the band finally heads into the fray, heads down, charging through, but soon come up against a brick wall as the song ends all too suddenly.  “Black Winged Cherub” then introduces another idea, which is then interrupted and otherwise snuffed by an effectively choppy and effects laden verse.  If you take nothing else away from these song descriptions, take away the fact that it’s so breathlessly difficult to describe what the band is doing succinctly.  Just keep in mind that the band makes it all sound so unforced and natural.  Aleph Null are like Egyptian undertakers, they take what’s given, break it open, stick things in between and sow it all back together.  Thankfully, these undertakers are artists.

“Stronghold” is another of the best song I’ve ever heard, it’s got an amazing chorus with an excellent Black Sabbath like riff (but that tone, though!) leading into a batshit crazy vocal which goes from strength to strength.  But controlled, you see.  It’s plain to see that Aleph Null can handle a livewire, they have the ability of Vincebus Eruptum, control of chaos.  The two part, 15-minute title track which closes the album puts a big wrap on this minor chord thread which had been developing throughout its length.  The constant minor chord textures give ‘Nocturnal’ a rusty or earthen hue and remind me of the classic albums I grew up listening to in the early nineties, not the least of which are Alice in Chains’s infallible ‘Dirt’.

Two years later and they’re still giving it away for free.  This Düsseldorf trio’s impressive catalog now spans three releases, 17 songs and over 100 minutes of music and it’s all available as a FREE DOWNLOAD on bandcamp, there isn’t even a “pay what you want” option, it’s just FREE.  If you haven’t jumped on the Aleph Null bandwagon yet, there is no further excuse.

Highlights include: "Backwards Spoken Rhymes" and "Stronghold"

Rating: 5/5


Total Run Time: 42:24

From: Düsseldorf, Germany

Genre: Sludge, Doom, Grunge, Psychedelic

Reminds me of: Alice in Chains, Conan, Slomatics

Release Date: February 15, 2014

!!!Brand New Aleph Null Interview on Sludgelord!!!
Aleph Null on facebook

Better Reviews 
The Sludgelord
Cvlt Nation

Conan – Blood Eagle (album review)

Cover artwork by Tony Roberts.

Conan is one of my favorite bands.  When I first discovered doom metal, I did it from the ground floor up, by sampling the bands that made the genre: Trouble, Witchfinder General, Saint Vitus and then Pentagram, before dipping a toe into the churning waters of today’s ceaseless flow of new bands.  Conan was the first of the newer bands that I heard that I thought had the potential to have as lasting a legacy as the greats of yesteryear, to be seen 30 years on the way I see those bands listed above.  It’s destiny etched on a crude, blunt weapon.  In short, Conan are a living legend, or at the very least, one in the making.  Their first album, ‘Monnos’ was very good.  Solid stuff to be sure.  The forthcoming ‘Blood Eagle’ is a king-making kind of album.

‘Blood Eagle’ cuts right down to the heart of Conan’s sound, pulsating, pounding, rumbling and most of all, driving.  A death-dealing barbarian stalking with purpose through the canyon pass, one foot in front of the other, knowing the marauders will ambush but ever-vigilant, meaty hand on hilt.  Vocalist / guitarist Jon Davis pens monosyllabic lyrics with clear, precise and uncomplicated meaning, thinking like a Neolithic warrior.  On ‘Blood Eagle’ the music follows suit.  The results are devastating.  This is the album Conan was meant to produce.  I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the band has lived up to its Full Potential here.

Conan doesn't do anything unfamiliar on 'Blood Eagle', those elements that we’ve come to expect from the band are simply heightened, the band’s instincts sharpened.  Played at full volume, Conan’s buzzing heaviness is at a vision-inducing, religious experience level.  When Phil Coumbe’s bass kicks in two minutes into opening number “Crown of Talons” it is positively brain rattling.  The last minute or so of the nearly 10 minute opener is exactly what I’m talking about.  It’s the closest thing to a physical beat down that music can get, just a relentless wash of hammering strikes.  A tone setter indeed, that sensibility is carried over across the entire album.  ‘Monnos’ was split between driving, war-torn action and battle-weary contemplation.  ‘Blood Eagle’ is a tireless campaign of conquest and decimation.

Conan is a band of musical weapons, the more simplistic, the more brutal, the better.  In Conan’s world, engines of war are elephant powered, armor consists of leather and one’s only shield is the wits a pitiless god has granted them.  You won’t hear any psychedelic soundscapes on this album.  Quiet moments of reflection are what happens when the bone-tired victor takes a sip from a blood-clouded watering hole after battle.  Conan’s weapons are bludgeoning and honest.  “Gravity Chasm” embodies this aesthetic, heavy fuzz spikes between smashing drum strikes.  “Horns for Teeth” chugs masterfully at headbanging pace, choking out the listener with changing tempos, dragging out the final moment, easing up then pressing harder.  The lead single, “Foehammer” introduces a table spoon of rhythmic complexity to the album and at no loss to its overall mood [Watch the video below].

Mention should also be made of Davis’s new Skyhammer Studios.  ‘Blood Eagle’ wasn’t the first album to be recorded at the newborn studio (if memory serves that honor went to Serpent Venom), but this is the first album to emerge from Skyhammer that I've heard.  It sounds excellent, resonant and full-bodied with mastering to match.  Depth is at a surplus making 'Blood Eagle' a 44 series of ever-increasing peaks.

An album like this only comes around once every few years and I suspect it’ll be awhile before we hear one as good, as on-point with a band’s sound as this one is.  Whatever you do, don’t miss ‘Blood Eagle’, it’s a sure-fire classic, the crowning achievement of a world-beating band in stride, one that legends are made of.  It’s a document of a band at one with their instruments with a full understanding of what those instruments are capable of, as mentioned above, this was the album Conan was made to produce.

[Also,while waiting for 'Blood Eagle' to hit stores and mailboxes be sure to check out Conan's bandcamp page for a recently released live album right here.]

Highlights include: "Foehammer" and "Crown of Talons"

Rating: 5/5



Tracklist:
1). Crown of Talons (9:48)
2). Total Conquest (6:28)
3). Foehammer (4:55)
4). Gravity Chasm (7:57)
5). Horns for Teeth (5:46)
6). Altar of Grief (9:00)
Total Run Time: 43:52

From: Liverpool, England

Genre: Doom, Sludge

Reminds me of: Aleph Null, Crowbar, Eyehategod, Slomatics

Release Date: March 11, 2014

Conan on facebook

Better Reviews 
The Sludgelord
Sleeping Shaman
Ech(((o)))es & Dust

GET IT HERE

Buzzherd - On Sinking Ships ... Rats Drown (album review)

WHAT MATTERS MOST IS HOW WELL YOU WALK THROUGH THE FIRE

Buzzherd makes me think of pirates.  Though they’re five landlubbers from Pennsylvania, the combination of their sludge / thrash sound and album title just does it for me.  I suspect that while the rest of us are out “finding ourselves”, these guys are busy swashbuckling from chandeliers.  That’s not say that this is all cute fun and games, there’s hell to pay on this record.  It’s easy to get lost on this sinking ship, the band pulls you down in a quagmire of syncopated song structures as the sludge levels rise past the knees and up to the chest while your arms thrash about looking for a way out, but never find one.  Before you know it … glub, glub, glub … you’ve been drowned and swashbuckled.

I’m not sure what a “typical” sludge album consists of, but I know you won’t find it here.  Buzzherd bulrushes the listener, after a mighty drag ‘em out, knock ‘em down struggle, they crash the gates and storm the altar.  After a short count-in, the band launches immediately into the verse of opening track “Abuse of Despair”, keelhauling the listener through the mud before raising topsail and hitting a 20+ knots pummeling of double time drums and slashing guitars, moving from strength to strength.

Roaring vocals and churning rhythms make the head swim, ‘On Sinking Ships …’ is not an album for those afflicted with motion sickness.  Never relying on atmosphere alone, there’s always something going on in this record, each track is a constant builder and all five of them are excellent.  But through all the busy-ness and twisting tempos, the riffs remain deliberate and the structures remain methodical.  Pure aggression is the guiding light here and tension is built and held up to the breaking point at every turn.

Album centerpiece “The Maloik” has a Slayer feel without going overboard, this is hell on the high seas.  A pandaemonic main riff, a slow build-up of pounding wave crashing atmosphere from the drums and menacing vocals make this a true standout track.  It’s the one I’ve been keying on every time I listen to this album, it’s a moody, dynamic builder and its infernal heat is more than enough to lather the sweat under my mustache.

This is non-hipster metal for those unashamed by their own negative emotions.  This is cathartic music loaded with riffs and moments.  This is a mysterious recording because it’s unclear how one plays guitar and drums with hooks for hands.  Just press play on the player below and let the headbanging commence.

Highlights include: "The Maloik" and "Indrid Cold"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 28:11

From: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Genre: Sludge Metal, Thrash, Doom

Reminds me of: Breathe Fire, Crowlord, Diesel King, Hollow Leg, Vykanthrope

Release Date: December 10, 2013

Buzzherd on facebook

In the Company of Serpents - Of the Flock (album review)

Rad cover artwork by Mike Lawrence.

The winds of change sometimes howl, but sometimes they whisper.  I caught on to Denver's sludge doom stalwart duo In the Company of Serpents last year when they released their mindblowing 6-song self-titled E.P.  The bulging muscular sound heard on the debut was like a musical caduceus of twin snakes named sludge and doom wrapped around the staff of prog.  Not only was the sound powerful and muscular, it was also energetic, heavy as balls and fairly extreme.  But no matter how far the band traveled down the arm of extremity, it wasn't nearly as extreme as the change that has taken place in the band's sound since they released the debut to the time that this new one has come out.  Gone are the head-nodding road anthems such as "Dirtnap" and "Immolation", gone are the easy-to-love songs and in their place comes a challenging bouquet of bleak and desolate soundscapes.  After a few months of build-up and anticipation 'Of the Flock' hit the streets and it was not what I was expecting to hear to say the least.  I was expecting a suitable follow-up, one with deeper grooves, heavier riffs and more muscular moments, not the black metal / stoner doom hybrid that it eventually was, but anyway, we'll get into it all presently and I'll try to explain why this album is both a howl and a whisper.

As I already said, the sound of 'Of the Flock' was already imprinted in the genotype of songs like "Immolation" and "Canto III Inferno" from the debut but hidden in plain sight so to speak.  These DNA strands of musical extremity have been characterized in the phenotype of the new album and are expressed as dominant traits.  After a short twangy intro, "Ash Swamp", the listener is confronted with the blast beat wall of noise which opens "Craven" before things ultimately settle down into a swinging stoner groove.  It's probably the most "mainstream" stoner doom sounding song with the groovy riff but is an interesting one right off the bat.  This is where the album begins to challenge the hardened stoner doom head because the emphasis isn't on that warm, fuzzy deep low end.  The guitar is tuned higher creating a grimier, razor sharp sound.

It's amazing how the simplest thing (whisper) can change everything (howl).  My mind reacts differently to 'Of the Flock' every time I listen to it.  Sometimes I hear bleak walls of noise, other times my mind can cut through that to hear the southern grooves beneath, but after several listens, the album is beginning to settle in to a consistently abrasive mood that is all it's own.  Strangely, the tone for the album was set by the closing track, "Untied / Culling Essence from the Void".  This was the pre-release "single" if you will and it bears none of the classic hallmarks of the pre-release single.  It's not catchy, in fact it doesn't have a popular kind of sound in any way.  It's not the kind of song you're going to find yourself shaking your booty to and singing in the shower for instance.  But it was an accurate reflection of what the album is like without sounding at all like any other song on the album.  It's heavy, it's melodically melancholic and it's dark slow.

In hindsight, the sound of 'Of the Flock' had been imprinted on the DNA of the songs found on 'In the Company of Serpents' all along.  The change on the surface between albums was of bombastic proportions and hit my ears like a hearty howl, I'm just talking about the change itself here.  But change that actually resulted within the music was an altogether subtle shift and so reported against the ears like a whisper.  I readily admit that the change in sound was not at all satisfying on a cursory listen.  However, sticking with it, moving beyond expectations and taking the album for what it actually is and not what I expected it to be, reveals something fantastic.  What is obvious is that In The Company of Serpents challenged themselves on their second go at it.  In doing so, they've crafted an album that not only sounds different from what they'd done before, but different from anybody else in the field.  And that's not something you hear everyday, neither is a howling whisper.

Highlights include: "Craven" and "Of the Flock"

Rating: 4.5/5


Total Run Time: 32:16

Grant Netzorg: Vocals, Guitars, Fuzz
Joseph Weller Myer: Drums, Apothecary

From: Denver, Colorado

Genre: Metal, Sludge, Doom, Black Metal

Reminds me of: That's a tough one ...

Release Date: October 31, 2013

In the Company of Serpents on facebook

Pyres - Year of Sleep (album review)

Right from the opening of "Proximity" it's apparent that each moment of 'Year of Sleep' is well thought out and executed with precision.  About a minute in and I'm sold on this band.  Well, I may be a cheap date but it's now up to them to lose me over the course of the next 39 or so minutes.  Will they withstand the pressure?

Pyres are from Toronto, a place as far away from Vancouver both geographically and culturally as New York is from Portland but the music they produce goes beyond all that, they speak in a universal language of metal.  The fact that they're Canadian, well that's just an extra point in the bag for them right there.  It appears this quartet of earhole heartbreakers knows the fine and subtle art of reviewer seduction.   Way to be from a place that you knew would sway my favor Pyres ... maybe they're just like, trying too hard, you know?

Nah, effort gives you a triple word score on this site.  For Pyres, it comes in the form of a mature sound that is neither light and fun nor tongue-in-cheek and it's no picnic either.  It's a sound that is deadly serious, but not too morose and shows a severity of purpose, intent and execution.  It all may sound like a big boring drag, but it isn't.  This is exciting music, all the more so because it's the band's debut album and one always hopes that there are many more such albums to come.

Pyres display a refined ear towards composition that begins with each individual performance on the record.  Each note finds its correct position, every beat sits in it's correct place and each moment would be rendered incomplete with any single one of those elements missing.  That's not to say that this is an uptight and rigid sounding album with wall to wall noise and filler.  There's a lot of empty spaces left over when it all comes together, creating momentum, groove and metal swing.  Indeed, the compositions seem to grow from those empty spaces like a mysterious force of nature.  Every track on the album is complete and sounds as though having sprung from the fertile womb of the most natural of states of being.

Without a doubt, 'Year of Sleep' is one of the most refined and (hate to use the phrase) 'professional sounding' recordings the underground has produced all year long.  Some might argue it's a bit over-cooked in that regard but I beg to differ.  This isn't a flossy or clean recording by any stretch of the imagination.  The musicianship and songcraft are just a cut above.  In a way it reminds me of a lot of nineties recordings and albums in terms of texture, though I can't name you which ones.  Musically, it's on a plane of its own.  Sludge that's neither too busy nor too slow and every inch a metal album, the appeal of which goes far beyond any particular genre classification.

While staying mostly within the mid to low tempos there are moments that blaze, such as on album closer "Everbearing" which starts with an almost Monster Magnet or early Tool-like frenetic energy before trading in more hardcore circles.  The hardcore tendencies of the band never stay longer than a cup of coffee (or an adult beverage) much like hardcore songs themselves.  It's almost as though these short and sweet moments develop branch-like tumors of song structure.  Starting off with a short blast, then layering it front and back, then separating the wheat from the chaff until what remains is a concise and dense nugget of hearty and nutritious metal.

This may be Canadian Metal Album of the Year when it's all said and done and is a strong contender for my personal favorite Canadian Album of the year, it's that good. (but it's got some heavy competition, that's for sure).  The only thing that stops this album from being a 5 is the absence of a truly, truly stand out track.  They're all excellent songs though.  As of right now, Pyres are one of the best kept secrets in metal, listen on the player below and let's see if that doesn't change.

Highlights include: "Proximity Anxiety" and "Atlas Cast No Shadow"

Rating: 4.5/5


Total Run Time: 39:59

From: Toronto, Ontario

Genre: Metal, Sludge, Hardcore

Reminds me of: Anciients, Eyehategod

Release Date: July  2, 2013

Better Reviews:
Metal Bandcamp
Hellbound.ca
Ech(((o)))es and Dust
Sludgelord

Pyres on facebook

Crowlord - Naked Chicks, Goats & Wolves (album review)

Crows can be taught to speak a small vocabulary in a parrot-like fashion, if you raise them from an early enough age and train them to do so.  They don't have the most beautiful or musical voices in the world, but if you could imagine just one crow in all the millions across the world growing up in captivity in Memphis, Tennessee and somehow starting a band, then I've got to think Crowlord would be it.  Apparently, you can also teach crows to attack people.  Could you imagine a small army of attack crows defending your home against unwanted visitors all shouting, "f-k awf!  f-k awf!" all at the same time?

Sometime in February I was treated to the Crowlord demo on bandcamp.  I don't remember how I latched onto this one, but I suspect a certain Sludgelord might have had something to do with it.  Anyway, it was on my list of stuff to review for far too long and before I'd even begun my review of the demo it was pulled down from the site.  The reason?  You're looking at it.  It was sent down the memory hole to make way for the band's triumphant debut, 'Naked Chicks, Goats & Wolves'.  I'm glad I was able to grab the demo while I could, though.  It has now become a lost relic of the internet age.  One more note before we jump in here.  If you'll look closely at the album cover the clawed and goat-headed (and goat-legged) figure also has tits.  Just thought I'd point that out.  It's very Baphometan (to invent a word).

Crowlord plays a doomy brand of sludge wrapped in an incredibly dark sheath.  Brian Anderson, Crowlord's vocalist can actually sound like a crow, cawing doom down from a building ledge or power line, and he does so without delving into outright mimicry.  Meanwhile, the band behind him sound like an overcast sky with dark clouds slamming together on gusty jets.  In other words, these are ominous tones provided by Jeremy Jackson and John Burton, Crowlord's double bass attack.  They don't bother with the whole guitar thing, you know how it is, that's been done to death!

The five songs from the demo have been re-recorded here with new drummer Rob Morrison and have been provided with better sound quality.  In all, four songs have been added to the demo's repertoire, "Good Lord, Look Away", "Retarded Wizard", "Draugr" and "Gestate", all of which rely heavily on Morrison's steadily pulsing and busily punctuated backbone and a bit less on the darkly suggestive atmosphere provided by the bass combo.  But the five older songs, they are the sticky substance that holds 'Naked Chicks, Goats & Wolves' together.

So why am I so into Crowlord when they have this abrasive vocalist and lean pretty heavily towards the hardcore side of things, when normally those aren't my things?  It's got to be a mixture of a couple elements here.  First thing is the band's double bass attack, and their wise use of it.  It's no gimmick that the band opts for this set-up and the result is that a guitar isn't missed.  I prefer a band at their darkest, droniest and doomiest anyway and there's plenty of that here.  The second reason is, in a word: dynamism.  Because Crowlord doesn't get stuck on one particular mood or sound, the hectic-paced sludge encrusted beatdowns and the slow, ominous doom balance each other perfectly from song to song.  You don't get lost in one scene or another and neither side of the band overstays its welcome.  Sequencing counts!

I'd be surprised if Crowlord weren't signed to a major label sooner or later.  They are already building a fairly sizable following for such a new and unsigned band.  I could easily see these guys getting snatched up by Relapse or Southern Lord or somebody and the busier, sludgier, crustier side of the band emphasized to the nth degree but all that stuff is based on nothing at all aside from an incurable case of Paranoid Hitsophrenia.  Of course Crowlord could just caw "f-k awf" at the prospect of emphasizing any one element of their sound to please label people, which I'm sure is exactly what they'd do.  The beauty of Crowlord is in the balance of elements.  For now anyway, just enjoy the Naked Chicks, the incredibly deep tones of doom, the Goats, the cawing vocals and the Wolves.

Highlights include: "Son of Crow" and "In the Nightmares of Serpents"

Rating: 4.5/5


Total Run Time: 45:32


John Burton (Bass)
Jeremy Jackson (Bass)
Brian Anderson (Vocals)
Rob Morrison (Drums)

From: Memphis, Tennessee

Genre: Doom, Sludge, Hardcore

Reminds me of: Baptists, Eyehategod, Relapse bands

Release Date: June 14, 2013

Crowlord on facebook

Beastwars - Blood Becomes Fire (album review)

Stunning cover artwork by Nick Keller

Right off the bat, 'Blood Becomes Fire' features one of the greatest album covers of all time.  Look closely, it's fascinating (see the full wrap-around cover art below).  What story does it tell?  What secrets does it hold?  I could stare at it for hours and come up with a million stories behind the painting.  A thousand words seems positively broke ass when assigning worth to this thing.  There actually is a story behind the artwork and that story is told in the music but I won't dwell on it.  Either way, Beastwars have accomplished goal number one.  Hook them in with great album art: check.

It was around early October that the world was treated to its first taste of the material from this album.  A seven inch promo single for "Tower of Skulls" backed with the album's closing track "The Sleeper".  The a-side right away was killer.  Catchy, doomy, slow and heavy enough to have its own gravitational pull, indeed it was a top 5 song in the Doom Charts.  The b-side was a solid tune as well, but what was this?  It was even slower and more understated than its companion.  I wasn't sure of what was to come.  Their excellent debut, 'Beastwars' was an album of cosmically inclined structures, cathartic moments and fiery dynamics.  It had its share of slow moments to be sure but the two sides of the new single seemed a bit ... subdued compared to the band's previous effort.

After hearing the new album in its entirety, it all makes sense.  What was originally heard and feared as being subdued was actually the first signs of a streamlining process that seems to have taken place within the songwriting that I would describe as akin to High on Fire's 'De Vermis Mysteriis' or Cultura Tres' upcoming 'Rezando al Miedo'.  The new songs may still bounce off the wall, but they are clearly directed and follow a logical trajectory.  The war of the wild beasts continues but an evolution has taken place.  Gone are the Swiss Army knives of kitchen sink songwriting, in come the all-in-one death rays.

As far as I know the first album was written as instrumental music before bringing their madman of a vocalist on board (more on him in a moment).  So it makes sense that the songs on this album follow more traditional song structures.  The result is a lean, fighting trim product.  In a word, the new Beastwars album is bold.

Once again, the band's aptly named smoke-tinged vocalist Matt Hyde delivers an emotional train-wreck, sprawling his guts all over the place.  "Rivermen" is a strong example of this.  You've got to respect a vocalist who really 'lives' his vocals, really 'experiences' his stories.  Occasionally he lets out the vulnerable Dr. Jekyll to draw the listener in deeply, only to turn around in an instant as the screaming, slathering Mr. Hyde.

Apparently he's just showed up at the band rehearsal one day and decided he was going to join the band.  I love stories like that.  Whether or not that's how it actually went down, it's a perfect example of his intensity and ability to captivate.  The band is truly blessed to have him.  He's one of the more sensitive vocalists that I know of in metal today.  By sensitive I don't mean he's sitting beside streams picking flowers and gently sobbing, I mean that he's attuned to the band the way a guitar string is attuned to the vibrations of a tuning fork.  Few are the vocalists who have the ability to match the music for intensity at polar ends of the spectrum.  It would be nice to plant an image of Hyde engaged in a beastly battle with the riffs but the truth is they are so joined at the hip that the idea just doesn't wash.  They are joined at the hip emotionally if not melodically.

Photo by David James

Quaking drums, boiling basslines and rivet-driving riffs tattoo themselves on the listener's brain.  Where the self-titled album was more adventurous in its structures, 'Blood Becomes Fire' has found a comfortable songwriting home and the pay-off has been the memorability of each of the songs.  "Caul of Time", which is currently available as a free download on bandcamp and so far the only other song aside from the two cuts on the single that is available has that epic Beastwars sound with a killer hook, listen to it now on the player below, you won't be disappointed, of course an empty feeling may arise as you crave for more.

Picking out highlights is kind of pointless because this album is solid as granite from end to end ... but "Shadow King" and "Dune" are particularly good aside from the two listed below.  "Realms" highlights the band's understated side excellently.  But really, this is a pointless exercise.  I'm just not hearing any bad, bland or uninspired moments on this thing.  Beastwars just doesn't do bland or uninspired.

A week from today this ship is going to roll in via the band's own Destroy Records but you can book your ticket early by pre-ordering the digital download now on the band's bandcamp page, or you can pre-order the format of your choice on the album's official page (see link below).  You can wait to preview more songs if you'd like, but you'd only be delaying the inevitable.  Once this band gets its hooks into you, they will own your ass.

Highlights include: "Tower of Skulls" and "Caul of Time"

Rating: 5/5


Tracklist:
1). Dune (3:01)
2). Imperium (4:36)
3). Tower of Skulls (4:30)
4). Realms (3:03)
5). Rivermen (4:10)
6). Caul of Time (3:06)
7). Ruins (3:32)
8). Blood Becomes Fire (3:08)
9). Shadow King (4:23)
10). The Sleeper (5:35)
Total Run Time: 39:01

Clayton Anderson – guitars
Nathan Hickey – drums
Matt Hyde – vocals
James Woods – bass

From: Wellington, New Zealand

Genre: Psychedelic, Sludge, Doom

Reminds me of: High on Fire



Release Date: April 19, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: I hear they're now taking applications for a one way trip to Mars.

Better Reviews:
The Sludgelord
No Clean Singing
The Bone Reader
The Metal Observer

'Blood Becomes Fire' official website
Beastwars on facebook

GET IT HERE

Electricjezus - Грязь поколений [Mud of Generations] (album review)

Cover artwork by Timur Khabirov

The title of Electricjezus' debut album, 'Грязь поколений' translates from Russian to English as 'Mud of Generations'.  It's an interesting title as this fairly new duo leave their dried and flaking crust punk leanings out in a heavy rain of slow riffs, which is not to say that the music is watered down by any means.  It's just muddy.  Electricjezus' brand of muddy sludge is what happens when you take punk and mix it with doom.

'Mud of Generations' features every kind of heaviness one would care to name.  You've got doom, sludge and hardcore sounds, but also heavy vibes, heavy film clips and heavy subject matter.  The lyrics are in Russian but that makes no difference to me, the vocals are quite hard edged and raspy so it all just sounds pretty heavy.  The message is extreme no matter what language the lyrics speak or what they speak of.  At times Ruslan, the vocalist, sounds like a ghost trapped inside of a corpse being crushed and pulped, when the drums thrash behind him one can imagine rotten limbs flailing, it makes for a horrific effect.

Actually, the compositions are split unevenly between their stoner sludge and hardcore punk sound with three of the shorter tracks dedicated to this latter category: "Улицы (Street of Broken Lights)", "Плеть культуры (Lash of Culture)" and "Бассейн (Pool)".  The rest of the album is made up of generally longer cuts that are probably a bit closer to what Paranoid people might recognize as doom or sludge.  Riffy cuts of vile guitar tone and crash heavy drums.

The centerpiece of the album is its title track, "Грязь поколений (Mud of Generations)".  Just the kind of song that this reviewer loves.  A riff straight out of the ancient book of demonic hymns: a slow and massive devil's third workout with vocals howled from the crypt of graves.  It evokes a specific mood, striking the perfect chord of doom.  Somehow, it seems lately I'm hearing less of this kind of material.  A treasure of graves; robbed.  "Все позволено (All Is Allowed)" is another excellent entry into the genre.  Really, it's easy to get caught up into segregating each and every song into it's own subgenre, at the end of the day, Electricjezus gives the listener a string of great riffs played at various tempos with varying degrees of high intensity.  Battering snares, warping cymbals and smashing guitars is just rockin' no matter what speed you do it at.

Ruslan and Oleg, the two guys in the band are quite creative, not only in their compositions but also by how they achieve their sounds.  If I'm understanding things correctly, Ruslan plays "bass" through his guitar by attaching a single bass pickup to the neck of his guitar, he also uses heavy guage strings to get that thick tone.  Oleg uses 22 inch ride or pieces of metal for a hi-hat.  Now, that's industrious.

Overall, the tone and feeling Electricjezus pumps out is the soundtrack to putrefaction.  Thick, foul, abrasive compositions of decomposition.

Highlights include: "Корм (Feed)" and "Грязь поколений (Mud of Generations)"

Rating: 4/5

Total Run Time: 43:22

Ruslan Frolov - guitar/bass/vocal/hair
Oleg Skorohodov - drums

From: Dmitrov, Russia

Genre: Doom, Sludge, Hardcore, Experimental

Reminds me of: Lord of the Grave

Release Date: February 19, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: When you can feel yourself rot, you know it's time to listen to Electricjezus.

Better Reviews:
Sludgelord
Temple of Perdition

Electricjezus facebook

Tentacle - Ingot Eye (album review)

"Been working on vocals this week. Threw up in my mouth a bit doing one track. I was yelling pretty hard though I guess. Hopefully we'll be able to hear it in the recording."

Though this, Tentacle's second release, contains but four tracks, at 39 minutes in length there's nothing else to call it but an album.  Last year's 'Void Abyss' EP totaled five songs (CD version contained a bonus track) and clocked in at 32 minutes.  'Ingot Eye's offerings are far weightier.  Less droney, more psychedelic, busier, more venomous than before.

Opening attack "The Blackness of My Soul Will Be So Great as to Make the Night Weep" is as long and epic as its title.  At 11 and a half minutes it's a monster which screams of unspeakable things, but to be honest, the time just flies by while listening to it.  The compositions may be longer here but they are more substantial, not only in length but in content.  Where 'Void Abyss' droned, 'Ingot Eye' quakes, cracks and shucks its bonds.  Each of these songs could easily reach into the twenty minute mark without losing the listener's attention.  "The Blackness of My Soul ..." is an epic struggle between a reluctant hero and a shambling dweller in shadows that "will make the night weep".  If you've ever read an H.P. Lovecraft story, then I think you can imagine how the struggle ends.

I won't be the first listener or reviewer to hear the distinctly Lovecraftian tone of the affair, not only in the lyrics, to which the band has done an amazing job of emulating the great New Englander's authorial voice but also in the demonic / aquatic background noises which swim all around the tracks in an unseen dimension that only the most tragic of figures would dare explore.

"Dull Ache", at five minutes, is the shortest number on the album by far.  It's psychedelic guitar echo picks up masses of momentum during the drop outs to turn a slow, lumbering song into one made up of atomic blast winds in the same way that lead is transmuted into gold.  "(Revenge) Dust For Blood" growls with the anger of the forgotten dead to awaken the Elder Gods.  This song is probably closer in spirit and nature to the 'Void Abyss' material, though it's longer.  No stone is left unturned on this album, no grave unspoilt, no gateway untampered.  It really sounds and feels as though they went all out on this one.

Final track "Our Serpent Mother's Kiss" has a classic doomy riff, an organic extension of one the band has used before in "Alone In My Grave" with almost the exact same turn around in the riff.  There's nothing wrong with a band recycling its old material, because it creates a thematic thread throughout their works.

Tentacle's second effort is a haunting affair, a journey through strange eons and weirder dimensions fraught with unspeakable perils, unnamable dread and unpronouncible beings.  It's a step up from 'Void Abyss' with all the stops pulled out and no chance of survival.  Truly doomed music.

Highlights include: "Our Serpent Mother's Kiss" and "The Blackness of My Soul Will Be So Great as to Make the Night Weep"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 39:01

From: Boston, Massachusetts

Genre: Doom, Sludge

Reminds me of: From Beyond (film), Ice Dragon, H.P. Lovecraft

Release Date: February 12, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: How ignorant is man, with all his scientific understanding, that he should conjure his own demise simply by listening to 'Ingot Eye'?

Better Reviews:
Heavy Planet
Temple of Perdition

Iron Hearse facebook

Cultura Tres - Rezando Al Miedo (album review)

Cover artwork by Damian Michaels

Without knowing for sure, I'd hazard a guess that at some point you have been hit in the head, maybe by a fist, maybe by a flying soccer ball.  Maybe it happened when you least expected it.  Either way, no band more accurately conveys that feeling through sound than Venezuela's Cultura Tres.  The hollow and wet thump, the bright flash, the droney and heavy ringing in the ears, the disorientation.  Sometimes nausea follows.  The lasting effect can be fear.  Cultura Tres' latest full-length album, the band's third, is titled 'Rezando Al Miedo' ('Praying To Fear').

How would I compare 'Rezando Al Miedo' to Cultura Tres' last album 'El Mal Del Bien'?  I wouldn't, this new one blows it out of the water.  But, I've a strong notion that fans of the band wouldn't necessarily agree, unless they're diehards.  The problem that I had with 'El Mal Del Bien', as indeed I have with a large portion of this particular brand of sludge, is that there's nothing in there to really sink my teeth into.  Nothing to draw me back, save a memory of a numbing buzz felt in places of impotent rage.  I need riffs, dammit!  Distinguishable ones, ones that if I recall them, I will spontaneously bust out with air guitar and mouth sounds because I can't help it.  I need melodies for the same reason.  Call me a neanderthal, or a philistine, or a douche, or what-have-you.  I don't mind, I just need those things to enjoy the music is all.  'Rezando Al Miedo' delivers these goods and does it quite well, thank you very much.  My aching suspicion however is that this isn't what Cultura Tres fans really want from the band, just increasingly downtuned distortion and droning riffs.  Well, there's that here too, and yet it's no longer simply about heaviness for heaviness' sake.

This is a truly impressive album by a band proving to the world that they are capable of composing and executing songs with multiple layers and textures.  The riffs are catchier, and if that term offendith thee oh Cultura Tres fan, then I've got to say I'm not sorry.  From the throbbing buzz of opening track "La Selva Se Muere" and its follow-up "Es Mi Sangre" to the solo which closes "Hole In Your Head" to the dynamic build up of "En Esta Tierra" the album opens up in a style previously unheard from the band before.  It's not long before you realize that this album is a tour de force, a masterpiece even.  This is their pinnacle.  In fact, I don't think it's going too far to say that this is as fine and memorable a collection of songs the band could possibly pen without veering away from metal and into pop territory.

Alejandro the vocalist is in fine form here, taking a cleaner approach to his position.  Interestingly the lyrics are mostly in English, excepting the choruses, which are mostly in Spanish, where the songs take their titles from.  The filthiest vocal of all, from the song "1492" is also sung in Spanish, which may be a clue to the man's comfort level with the English language, but he does a terrific job throughout.  He needn't worry of course because he's an intelligent and articulate guy with a lot to say (see video below).  By the time the mostly instrumental title track appears, a pattern begins to emerge in the listener's mind with bendy riffs and melodic counterpoint speaking loudest amid the din.  This all comes together on "La Ley Del Dolor" to tremendous effect.  The bendy riff opens up into a rarely heard harmony which puts a shitstorm of momentum behind the vocal.  This is the best song I've ever heard from the band, but it's only the natural evolution of everything they have laid down on this album to that point, everything had been leading to this one amazing moment.

The final track "Forget I'm Here" finishes off with about 14 minutes of post-Ridley Scott atmospheric drone, the kind where one can in fact forget the band is there and become lost in thought.

If the south of America is synonymous with the best sludge metal, then to go further south would produce something even better, right?  To quote the cool kids: "Seems legit".  Something about the heat and humidity mixes together for a well-cooked sludge.  This time out Cultura Tres pulls out all the stops and adds hooks to the recipe.  By the time you read this Cultura Tres will be finishing up the last leg of their European headlining tour, they've already conquered South America.  With material this strong, there's really no telling how far the band can go.  This is a brilliant album.

Highlights include: "La Ley Del Dolor" and "Hole In Your Head"

Rating: 4.5/5



Tracklist:
1). La Selva Se Muere (5:00)
2). Es Mi Sangre (4:16)
3). Hole In Your Head (5:38)
4). En Esta Tierra (4:53)
5). 1492 (4:44)
6). Rezando Al Miedo (5:05)
7). La Ley Del Dolor (5:20)
8). Forget I'm Here (20:45)
Total Run Time: 55:39

Alejandro Londono - vocals, guitar
Juan Manuel de Ferrari - guitar, backing vocals
Alonso Milano - bass
David Abbink - drums

From: Maracay, Venezuela

Genre: Sludge, Psychedelic, Post-Metal

Reminds me of: Alice in Chains, Neurosis

Release Date: May 15, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Hop into a boiling cauldron caked in mud and sewage until the resulting brew becomes thick enough to stop bullets.

Better Reviews:
Phantasmagoria in Greek
Sludgelord
Temple of Perdition

Cultura Tres official website
Cultura Tres on facebook
Cultura Tres on twitter

GET IT HERE

O.D.R.A. - Karl Denke Blües (album review)

I've been dying to take a crack at reviewing this album since I downloaded it in early January.  It just kept getting pushed further back in the pile of albums to review because I prioritize band requests over ones like this, reviews of albums that nobody asked me to do, but that I had to do because they need to be shared.  In the time since this album came out and I've been waiting to review it, I've discovered, received the CD of in the mail and even reviewed an excellent album by a band called Palm Desert, who it turns out, are not only from the same city as O.D.R.A. but are actually connected through mutual drummer Kamil Ziółkowski.  Though the two bands share a brother in Kamil, that's about as much as they have in common.

O.D.R.A. stomp and crush the skulls of all comers.  'Karl Denke Blües', the title of their third record, is a fitting title indeed.  The album is a veritable axe attack, cleaving listeners repeatedly then keeping their flesh in large jars of curing salt or something like that, figuratively speaking of course.

The vocals are shouted with blood-vessel bursting force in the crust punk tradition.  The lyrics are all in Polish, but chances are you wouldn't understand them anyway.  Actually, Chudy, the vocalist, sounds like an escaped and enraged mental patient separating his shoulders to free himself from his straight-jacket to get his hands on that axe on the wall.  Once he comes at you he won't stop until there's nothing left to attack.  Yeah, I'd say that's pretty much what Chudy sounds like.

Screwdriver riffs with rusty feedback tips flow in and out of each song like extinction level event waves.  This connection of tracks via feedback and other such noises creates a single take live feeling.  It really does feel like a live record.  One can almost picture Chudy roaming and stalking around the recording studio on the warpath, the instrumentalists wary of his dangerous presence but glad he's on their side, putting a foot on the monitor and really leaning into his lines.  I don't know where the album was recorded but a killer's wooden work shed with hanging hooks on chains would be a good guess.

With a vocalist as crazy as Chudy, a drummer with the pedigree of Kamil and a bassist who goes by the handle of Defekator creating an album named after a horrific serial killer and his associated blues, you should have some idea of what you're getting yourself into with 'Karl Denke Blües'.  Sure, it's a paint the town red kind of record, but it has nothing to do with cheerful good times.

Highlights include: "Odrowąż" and "Karl Denke Blües"

Rating: 3.5/5

Total Run Time: 39:57

Chudy Byk - vocals
Ziółko - drums
Smalec - guitar
Karolek aka defekator - bass
Bartes-guitar

From: Wrocław, Poland

Genre: Sludge, Doom, Crust

Reminds me of: Baptists, Demonic Death Judge, Indian, Thorr-Axe

Release Date: December 14, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Invite somebody over for dinner and sharpen the blade.

Better Review:
Sludgelord
Heavy Planet
Born Again Nihilist

O.D.R.A. facebook

Short bio of Karl Denke

Diesel King - The Grey Man (album review)

Diesel King has made quite a name for themselves in the UK metal underground appearing on the 'Sons of Sabbath' free CD sampler that came with the Metal Hammer Sabbath tribute issue last year.  That was my first exposure to the band.  Their EP 'The Ancient And The Nameless' was loaded with muscular riffs, headbangin' rhythms and received rave reviews from many in the underground sludge review press.  Five songs and 25 minutes of satisfaction it left a strong and violent indent on folks around the world.

Fortunately, the world didn't have long to wait for the return of the king.  'The Grey Man', Diesel King's second and latest EP is a scabrous blast that combines great riffs and groove with heavy metal extremity.  The force of this blast will definitely tear the listener a new one.  Consider this fair warning.

'The Grey Man' unleashes the band's power grooves in full force, the scope of the band's abilities of which were only hinted at on their first offering.  The new one literally picks up right where the last one left off with ringing distortion and the pounding ferocity of the last bit of "Toumai" leading into opening track "Battered Hag".  Straight off the listener will notice that extremity levels have been ramped up across the board, from the pissed off growling vocals to the slab-like riffs that sway dangerously overhead to the cyclopean power grooves which define this release, 'The Great Man' unleashes heaviness that is measured in the tonnes.

Diesel King dust off their sandblaster and get to work on peeling the faces off listeners on the EP's title track, "The Grey Man".  Mark O'Regan gusts blistering vocals with hurricane force propelled by the juggernaut behind him.  "Immurement" is a form of execution which involves walling up the victim, as in E.A. Poe's classic The Black Cat.  Punishing waves of heavy metal groove lays brick and mortar around the listener.  After immuring the listener, "Bind Torture Kill" kicks down the bricks and just buries the listener in the rubble.  Rest in peace.

'The Grey Man' is a headbanging tour de force.  The digital download on bandcamp costs 3 pounds and comes with a free air drum kit that magically appears in front of you while listening.  It's a good thing it's included because you're going to need it.  Bill Jacobs (drummer in Diesel King) knows his grooves, knows how to get the crowd headbanging and swaying.  You know when the guitar and drum interplay is so full of catchy and powerful funk that it almost sounds dangerous?  Like it's going to set off a riot at any minute?  Those are the waters that Diesel King navigates.  Someone's going to get hurt here, there's no question.  If I were some king of overly cautious control freaks I'd see too it there was a law against this band.

Highlights include: "The Grey Man" and "Immurement"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 31:10

Mark O’Regan - Vocals
Geoff Foden - Guitar
Aled ‘Danger’ Marc - Guitar
Bill Jacobs - Drums
Will Wichanski - Bass

From: London, England

Genre: Sludge, Groove Metal

Reminds me of: Crowbar, Down, Pantera, Pitch Black Forecast

Release Date: March 4, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: At t-plus 5 minutes, enter the blast crater and begin to lay masonry all around you.

Better Reviews:
Temple of Perdition

Diesel King official website
Diesel King facebook

The Alchemical Mixture - Bridges To Dreams, The Pod, Oxtongue (album reviews)

DRONE FROM DREAMS TO NIGHTMARE

Bridges To Dream - Victims

Highlights include: "Interieur du Delta" and "I Called Her

Storm".  From: Montreal, Quebec.  Rating: 3.5/5

Bridges To Dreams are aptly named, not that they put the listener to sleep, but because the music they create serves as a vehicle to the dream state.  Music can be an interdimensional gateway to unglimpsed worlds and 'Victims' provides the listener with rich fuel.  This is a clever band, who have been at the vanguard of the Montreal underground scene for years, a band who have mastered their craft: hypnotic drone with just enough constantly evolving background elements to start the rusty augur of imagination to churning.

They are an instrumental band that use a combination of live instruments and keyboard laden effects to paint clockwork worlds.

The album is bookended by classic rants by Charles Manson.  His interviews were always popular with certain of my crazy buddies because of the truths he articulated, which one imagines is how he accumulated such followers as he had.  The problem with 'Charlie', shown clearly in the clip used here by Bridges To Dream, the thing which separates the philosophers from the raving lunatics is his penchant for going too far down the rabbit hole, saying what's better left unsaid.  'Victims' on the other hand doesn't go too far down the rabbit hole while communicating only in unspoken messages.  Instrumental music that is like a time-lapse film.  A static, unflinching foreground image with a dynamic ever-changing background.

Normally, sampled, looped and otherwise digitally synthesized music doesn't go down too well with me, there are certainly exceptions and I don't like to be dismissive of someone's art just because I don't 'get it'.  So it took a couple listens for this album to sink in, but in the end, it did.  Actually, the way each small background element moves independently of the larger droney frame is quite artfully done, like wheels within wheels and truly does facilitate thinking and creativity.  Without knowing for certain I'm almost positive that Bridges To Dreams are not the first band to utilize this technique but the effect was stunning when I noticed it working on me.  The 'wheels within wheels' framework actually kicked this bucket of bolts that I call a brain into motion and I almost had to laugh when I realized what the music was doing to me.  It was truly impressive.

The Pod - Assassins In The Mirrored Hall

Highlights include: "The Analeptic Ritual" and "Citadel of

Mirages".  From: Chapel Hill, NC.  Rating: 4/5

The Pod is something else entirely.  More straightforward.  No sly dynamics.  Purity in slow motion.

Yes, that's the phrase, slow motion.  "The Analeptic Ritual" sounds as though it's actually a slowed down recording and who knows whether it is or isn't, but that's the feeling one gets from it.  Everything is fluid and flows in otherwise regular patterns, it just happens to be at a speed that isn't quite up to the speed of waking life, that isn't quite natural.  This technique has an effect on the listener.

As each of the six tracks on the album play out one wonders where they are going and that makes them strangely compelling, but that is surely the wrong mindset.  This is less about 'physical' travel, more about achieving an alpha state and the work must be done by the listener alone.  It's astral travel music along the lines of Chad Davis' current project of focus Romannis Mötte.

Like Romannis Mötte, The Pod is the work of one man, Scott Endres, guitarist of the punishing post-sludge band MAKE.  This album takes the band's long post-metal ambient passages and spins them into an hour long record.  This is actually The Pod's third full-length and fifth release in total.  'Assassins in the Mirrored Hall' finds Endres giving his mad scientist compositions more room to breathe, there's a feeling of completeness, of the compositions having been allowed to run their full logical course.  There are fewer tracks, but they are more fully realized finding fuller expression.

There is progression here, it comes agonizingly slowly but the listener's saint-like patience will be rewarded although this record cannot be recommended for those with ADD.  As previously stated, this isn't the kind of record one puts on looking to "get somewhere".  Once again this album is like a gateway of its own, darker perhaps in tone or 'flavor' than 'Victims', more distorted with less solid ground to stand on, less for the listener to dig in and find firm footing.

Oxtongue - Where The Light Is Mute

Highlights include: "Humanity: Born In The Way Of Eternal Grief" and
"Anguish: Abide With Suffering".  From: Canada.  Rating: 4/5

But whatever footing one finds with The Pod quickly cracks and splits at the hands of the next band in our lineup, Oxtongue who plunge the llistener into darkened icy depths.  Oxtongue are the dirtiest, filthiest band ever featured on this blog, hands down.

Of the three albums featured here, Oxtongue's three song 31 minute offering most resembles a straight-forward collection of songs.  The listener will find long drone passages and moving song structure in equal measure.  Oxtongue's blackened drone sludge is a harsh slog through the frozen tundra handcuffed to a corpse, foot caught in a bear-trap.  Heartbreaking riffs and soul devouring drums pave the way for waves of filthy yet often mournful vocals like ghosts dressed in smoke.

Oxtongue's ear raping is brutal and merciless and not for the faint of heart.  Those suffering from depression should either steer clear or come running depending on temperament.  Those with megalomaniacal tendencies and the insane are advised to turn back at this point as well because this EP is likely to tip one over the edge.

Where the band really makes the most noise is in the wind-swept open spaces where drone reigns as king.  This is where the listener enters the realm of nightmare.  Oxtongue's brand of drone is deafening and pitiless as a stalker in the woods.  At the frayed ends of these droney passages one is likely to witness the agony-crazed lashing of a dying animal, as comes toward the end of "Cessastion: The Shade Rapes Nativity".

So we come to the end of the line having been stalked by smokey ghosts across a frozen tundra to find oneself on a frozen lake hidden by snow only to hear the ice snap and echo across the plains.  The listener plunges in and it's at that moment the world moves into slow motion and astral travel is achieved.  The horror of reality too painful to endure.  At the bottom of the lake all life ceases in a clockwork environment, a life suspended in time lapse to ponder endlessly, wheels within wheels.

Genre: Drone, Sludge, Ambient

Release Date: December 1, 2012 (Bridges To Dreams); March 1, 2013 (The Pod); January 15, 2013 (Oxtongue)

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Press play at the moment that dream becomes reality and all your hidden fears come true.

Better Reviews:
Temple of Perdition Bridges To Dreams review
Sludgelord The Pod review
Heavy Planet The Pod review
Ech(((o)))es and Dust The Pod review
Sludgelord Oxtongue review
Sludgelord Oxtongue interview

Oxtongue official website







Special thanks to Steve Howe for recommending Oxtongue.