REVIEW: GURT / LIMB - SPLIT ROAST

I don’t always review albums song by song, but when I do, it’s usually a Witch Hunter Records release. The newest album from the DIY label based in the UK is a truly collaborative effort from two filthy sludge bands with varying approaches to the subgenre. On this split EP, both bands include, in order, one new original song, a cover of their choosing, and a cover of a song by the other band sharing the split. I absolutely love this approach, as it invites some playful competition and camaraderie as well. Here are my thoughts on each song:

GURT

1) Sophisticate - Gurt start the hunting party with a throbbing rhythm and a thick, mucky sound that invokes Slabdragger and the bluesy flourishes and brawny chugging of late-career Pantera. Take old Chicago electric blues, channel it through an Orange amp, then dip it in hot tar and vulture feathers. The vocals from Growth/Gareth Kelly sound like the crusty howls of a swampland degenerate from a Cormac McCarthy novel.

2) Psycho Killer - Yep, a Talking Heads cover. There’s the initial, beard-growing bass tone from Spice/David Blakemore, then the novelty of hearing David Byrne’s voice replaced by the caustic roar of a gutter demon. Parts of the song feel a bit rigid (the fa-fa-fas don’t work quite as well as the ay-ay-ays, for those  familiar with the moments of non-lyrical vocals), but the last minute of sprawling, trippy rock is totally inspired, and Gurt own this song and make it their own monster.

3) Gift of the Sun - Covering the title track of the last Limb EP, Gurt extend the psychedelic rock with shades of Church of Misery’s quietest moments, and then rips a hole in the earth’s crust with a riff that could summon Cthulhu for its turn at the hookah. This song is seriously, supernaturally heavy.

LIMB

1) Plaguedoctor - Groovy sludge that’s closer to stoner metal with its hallucinogenic bounce, like Electric Wizard without the occult, just a perpetually loaded bong and a bathtub full of homemade swill. Great song, catchy as hell is hot. Rob Hoey’s vocals remind me of LG Petrov from Entombed, if his throat was shredded from acid tab paper cuts.

2) Son and Daughter - Covering a supremely heavy Queen song from their debut album, Limb explore gender roles with a strong, Sabbath stomp. I was expecting some harmonica to join the fray, as this song feels like it’s dressed up in a denim jacket with fringe. They cut the hacky synth effects that plague the original and trim it down to basics, resulting in awesome throwback heavy rock with raw-doggin’ attitude.

3) Soapfeast - Choosing a Gurt song from another split, the shared EP with Dopefight, Limb soak in the joys of profanity and all its unexpected combinations, as the vocals are the most diseased on the EP as they chant the mantra “you really don’t give a cunting fuck.” The song itself has a surprisingly low-key, smoke-a-spliff-in-the-van’s-back-seat energy, apart from one dangerously bombastic release of fury.

In summary, I had a blast with this entire release. Sludge is often considered one of the more misanthropic genres, riddled with tales of addiction and hatred and self-loathing. But on Split Roast, Gurt and Limb both scoop their sloppy, delicious gruel onto the listener’s plate and growl with a grin, “Eat up, you cunting fuck.” And that’s music to my ears.

Listen to Gurt and Limb over here, where Witch Hunter Records always makes the albums available as a “Name your price” download. Then buy the CD, which is made with a completely DIY mentality, and features artwork from the bands:  http://witchhunterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/split-roast

Add Gurt here on Facebook, and follow their swampy reign:  https://www.facebook.com/GURTsludge

And do the same for Limb, while convincing them to record the Queen epic “The Prophet’s Song” in the future:  https://www.facebook.com/LimbTheBand

REVIEW: FÓRN - S/T EP

Welcome to the first (unofficial) language lesson here at Mister Growl. Today we’re learning a few words that will assist you with appreciating some of the grimmest doom in New England. When first seeing the band name Fórn I made the sort of gut-level assumption that at best leads to ridicule and at worst leads to fatal misunderstandings. I thought that Fórn was perhaps a Celtic word meaning “forlorn,” or some other somber adjective. It’s actually an Icelandic word referring to a ceremonial sacrifice, meaning that in very specific, dangerous company, I could have accidentally been part of a tragic Wicker Man-type situation. Basically what I’m trying to say is that Fórn almost killed me.

And that was even before it came to their music, which is lethal as well. This is the sort of pitch-black funeral sludge that feels like the natural extension of the earliest days of extreme metal tape-trading, where primeval growls and heaviness seemed like they contained the most evil forces from musical history contained in a disarmingly innocent-looking cassette. Fórn has fused the ugly ambience of those recordings (without mimicking the notoriously poor sound quality) with the blackened sludge of Grief and Cough.

This two-track debut EP begins with “Coiled, Alone,” a lurching horror film of a song that even invokes the macabre slow-motion death metal of Hooded Menace before spinning off into nightmarish soundscape territory, complete with a shrieking wall of atmospheric guitar feedback and background vocals that sound like someone’s skin is being peeled like a grapefruit. The EP’s closer, “Dasein,” is a 9+ minute slab of nastiness that surprises with some killer grooves that could fit in a Bongzilla song. For those curious linguists (like me), “dasein” is a German word used extensively in Martin Heidegger’s writings regarding existential philosophy, “dasein” refers to a German phrase that means “being there,” or in other words, existing in a human capacity. For those of you looking for our one degree of separation between Peter Sellers and Boston sludge, you just found it. If another lifeform visited Earth and found “Dasein” as the lone evidence of human existence, they would likely believe that humans were massive, horned, cannibalistic creatures that trolled around bleak wastelands sucking the dried eyeballs and tongues from the deceased. Fórn play riffs so heavy they feel like they can’t be lifted from the floor, much like bands such as Winter or Conan, but with barbarity rarely this visceral. I can’t wait to hear more from this quintet, despite the music sounding like a fitting soundtrack for the mass-feeding of Christian babies to a black-tongued swamp creature. Did I type despite? Who am I kidding, anyone who has read this blog more than once knows that Christian baby buffets are pretty much my main jam.

Check out this EP over at Fórn’s Bandcamp and order one of their beautiful tapes: http://forn.bandcamp.com/album/ep

And go follow them on Facebook for news on shows and future releases: https://www.facebook.com/Forndoom

REVIEW: OXXEN - S/T EP

Oxxen, a Tennessean doom/sludge trio, sounds like the Chattanooga Choo Choo has derailed at the stroke of midnight and plowed through forests filled with man-eating black bears and haunted oak trees, leaving behind a wreckage of splintered wooden limbs, bones, and fur. While the band’s name reminds me of ill-fated computer expeditions along the Oregon Trail (I always had at least two oxen drown when I chose to ford a river), the music evokes everything from the hardest-partying stoner rock to the murkiest grunge in Seattle’s days of pre-exploitation.

Their self-titled EP kicks off with “This Shit Ain’t Exactly Thunderdome.” This shit is, however, heavy enough to give Tony Iommi a boner from a continent away. When the distortion hits it can collapse weak hearts, and there’s a punk energy in this music that spits blood and teeth into the crowd. When the songs reach mid-to-uptempo they feel like they’d be right at home playing with Black Tusk, Red Fang, or Orange Goblin. (Editor’s note: Just checked the band’s gig history and it looks like they have played, or will play, with Black Tusk. Solid.)

“Stoic Men Under Ancient Lord” swaggers with reckless grunge intensity, taking the heaviest moments of Nirvana’s Bleach and the Melvins’ Houdini and dressing them up with armor and a battle axe. It features Bill Robinson's best lead guitar work on the album, whose voice sounds how I’d imagine Kurt Cobain would sound if he was still alive. The same hoarse shout, tone deepened from years of drinking cocaine and snorting whiskey, only occasionally concerned with weak shit like pitch and melody.

Oxxen close with the album’s highlight, the 10+ minute “Riddle of Steel.” This song revs its engines as loudly as the best biker metal out there before slowing to a Cathedral crawl until the seventh minute, where they return to the punk riffing and gruff aggression that propelled the EP’s opener. Oxxen’s roots may reach into traditional doom and the spirit of Sabbath and Pentagram, but there is a fist-pumping, binge-drinking sense of immediacy and toughness to this release that gives me the hunch these dudes are a totally killer live band. Just because you can flatten a forest with your slowest riffs doesn’t mean you can’t chop the keg open with an axe and party sometimes.

This EP is currently FREE on Bandcamp, so check it out and throw them some bones if you enjoy it as much as I do:  http://oxxen.bandcamp.com/album/oxxen

And follow them on Facebook for future news on gigs and merch:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oxxen

REVIEW: WRAITHS - EP 2012

So Wraiths call themselves “hell metal,” and despite the unreliable nature of most self-applied monikers this is actually pretty god damn apt. I would be tempted to substitute “hardcore” for metal, but when it’s this heavy and bruising that’s me just mincing words and being a genre-humping elitist douche. While they’re from the UK, Wraiths’ sound exists somewhere in the combined headspace of Travis Bickle and Richard Ramirez, mixing the horrors of urban isolation and suicidal Satanism in a bucket of bleach, ammonia, and goat blood, resulting in lethal fumes and grotesque hallucinations.

Their 5 song EP is completely dedicated to creating a mood of total hopelessness. These songs are the sounds of life hitting a dead end. If you’re looking for music that soars across the whole kingdom of emotion you’re in the wrong neighborhood, pal. There’s no triumph or love or positivity here, just riffs that are down-tuned, punishing, and blackened with gutter grime. A lot of the credit for the convincing unpleasantness can be attributed to Rae Robinson’s chilling roar, which seems genuinely tortured and resembles Sammy Duet’s supporting vocal work from Acid Bath/Goatwhore when he reaches into the higher registers.

Outside of crust punk bursts in “Black Vultures” and “Monolith,” most of the EP lurches forward at a mid-tempo stomp, a pace matching the somber tone crafted throughout. Despite the overwhelming bleakness there’s still a lot of texture here, from the gang-shouting on “Pyramid Head” to an audio clip from Devil’s Rejects that confirms that Wraiths’ music is here to do the devil’s work. Oh, I should also mention that this may qualify as a concept album, as it seems to follow the same character’s descent into violent vengeance as he pursues a future, following his likely suicide, as a demon in Satan’s horde. Maybe I’m incorrectly analyzing the lyrics, but I have a feeling when the words “I can’t wait to fucking die” are screamed over a sledgehammer of distortion it’s entirely literal. I guess it’s possible he means “die” in the Shakespearean way, as in having a totally killer orgasm, but this EP seems to enjoy shouting fuck more than actually fucking. What can I say, depression sucks.

But these songs, despite their themes, will push depression aside and invigorate fans of loud, ugly music. Nothing makes you want to punch God right in his/her/its face more than Wraiths’ bludgeoning attack. This is another raw, uncompromising release from Witch Hunter Records for any fan of music with a black heart and a mean streak. Also, it looks like they borrowed Slayer’s logo for a little while, with promises to return it as good as new. But after hearing this EP I know that when they give it back it will be burnt like a Norwegian church, slick with new blood, and stink like an unearthed prostitute. Such is the danger when making logo-swap deals with Wraiths.

Listen to this nasty slab of hell metal over yonder:  http://witchhunterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wraiths-ep-2012

And “Join the Pre-Order” by grabbing one of these bad ass T-Shirt/Tape bundles:  http://witchhunterrecords.bigcartel.com/product/wraiths-ep-2012-tape-t-shirt-pre-order

GUEST REVIEW: COFFINS - MARCH OF DESPAIR

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes another guest reviewer into our unholy flock: Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival, a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn. He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review one of the several 2012 releases from Coffins, their March of Despair EP:

“Full disclosure: I know nothing about metal.

Well, that's not entirely true. I like metal, but there's no way I'd proclaim myself an aficionado of the genre. It was, for lack of a better word, forced on me at a young age by my older brother. Bands like Cradle of Filth and Slayer paved the way to others like Emperor and Skinless. Not that I minded, but it was quite a culture shock to me when bands like The Clash were my main musical staple. Bearing that in mind, my understanding of the genre has blossomed into something more appreciative now, but I’m not entirely convinced. I say this so I don't come across as a complete idiot whilst I review a EP from a Japanese band called Coffins.

The five song album titled March of Despair, opens up with the track “Till Dawn of the Doomsday,” which, honestly, didn't quench the punch in the face opening track thirst I needed to really get into this album. It's a solid track, full of enough trudging guitar riffs and breakdowns to make me throw down at my desk chair, but it stalls in the beginning, which, in my humble musical opinion, is not the beginning of a great song. I know metal is about momentum, but when it’s forced on you early in the track, it can create an incomplete feeling to the rest of the track.

The songs “Carpet of Bones” and “In Bloody Sewage” remain my favorites, maybe because I myself own an actual carpet of bones and I have a fixation towards bloody sewage. These two tracks feel more refined than the others, if maybe not altogether more free form. While I liked these two songs, they created a bigger problem for me overall as I found all the songs on the album to have different production values. I could be going deaf, the end result of the hundred or more shows I've gone to in the last couple years where I haven't worn ear plugs, but I got the distinct notion these songs were all leveled differently, which can create a problematic listening experience if you’re a fan of audio consistency.

The other two tracks, “Grotesque Messiah” and “Corpsegrinder,” didn't hit me the way I wanted them to. “Grotesque Messiah” feels sloppy, and yeah, I know, I'm listening to a death metal band, sloppiness is appreciated in this genre, right? But considering the other songs on the album felt tight, this song in particular bugged me in a way no other song since “Mambo Number 5” has (THE TRUMPET!). And “Corpsegrinder” just doesn't feel like much of a song to me. That's a very vague review of it, but if you listen to it, maybe you'll agree.

Overall, I'm a bit torn. Like the 80's song, but in reverse, Japan is big with me, and I often go out of my way to either listen to music from Japan or at least appreciate their take on the punk and metal genres. But I couldn't help feeling this was more of a faux version of what death metal is supposed to be, the culmination of one band’s attempt to replicate bands that they've loved, but couldn't fully execute musically. If you have a half hour to spare, and just feel like giving something a try, March of Despair is as least worth a listen, if not completely unforgettable.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s Note: “Corpsegrinder” is a cover of a song off Death’s second demo tape. Just a little pop-up trivia for the diehards. - MG)

Many thanks to Shane for sharing his thoughts! He introduced himself with modesty but he did actually suggest Black Cobra and Withered when deciding what album to review. That’s pretty obscure knowledge for someone who knows “nothing about metal.” Check out Coffins on Spotify, they have several albums available, and their upcoming album The Fleshland is due out July 9th.

Pre-order The Fleshland here: http://coffins.bandcamp.com/album/the-fleshland

REVIEW: OLDE GROWTH - OWL EP

After the unfortunate “ancient goiter” imagery Olde Growth’s name immediately installed in my head (I just pictured a bearded, yellow-toothed bulge protruding from a wizard’s neck), listening to their new EP (nicknamed the Owl EP) is one of the most pleasant listening experiences I’ve had in some time. Olde Growth plays traditional doom with untraditional energy, blasting out catchy, sludgy hooks as a miraculously thick bass-and-drum team that craft songs five piece bands dream of weaving. As a band deeply inspired by the “awe inspiring relics of the natural world,” their sound is as diverse as the weather of each New England season, heavier than a Redwood, and darker than the same tree’s shadow at midnight. If you ever listened to Witchfinder General and thought to yourself, “This is totally decent but could use occasional throaty screams and enough bass to inspire seismic faults” then this album is waiting to be your favorite release of the year.

Every band living somewhere in Doomlandia lives or dies by its riffs. With the Owl EP and  their self-titled LP both as evidence, Olde Growth sits at the top of the riff food chain, preying on the weaker bands who equate anything slow and loud to successful doom. From the opening minute of “Brother of the Moon” Stephen LoVerme has pushed aside all doubt that this band is anything but totally dedicated to writing songs, not just whatever barely disguised Pentagram B-sides they could scream over and release as their own. These songs dip and swell like an angry tide, they blossom in the sun and grow thorns unexpectedly. There is a lush, organic feeling to these songs that occasionally distract you from how god damn heavy it all is. Amidst the dominant bass and fantastic drumming interplay (performed with exceptional wild energy by Ryan Berry) it’s actually LoVerme’s vocals that give this music incredible texture and appeal. “Tears of Blood” is the best example of his skill, where he delivers soulful  hooks that escalate the heavy drive of the bass into pop territory before accompanying the gruff, somber chords of splintered doom spanning the song’s final minute with tortured screams of terrifying conviction.

Speaking of “Tears of Blood,” this is the type of song that recruits listeners to give heavy music a real chance. Powerful, melodic, expertly played and sung, all without sacrificing aggression. The song is intense and haunting, memorable from the slamming bass to the smooth croon to the raw, sludgy conclusion. It’s rare to find a heavy band that can so easily connect with listeners outside the ranks of existing metal fans while remaining “true” to the ears of the most seasoned doom veterans.

Boston may not be the first place you think of when you picture natural wonders but after listening to Olde Growth I’d be convinced that through their jamming space window they see waterfalls taller than skyscrapers, clouds clinging low to fields of twenty-foot tall corn stalks, and woodland so thick the only way to cross the forest is to climb branch to branch. Kyuss may have perfected psychedelic doom perfect for the desert and all its creatures, but Olde Growth are playing doom speaking for and to the trees and mountains. From the pummel and roar of “Warrior Child” to the ominous crunch of “Edge of the Sea,” Olde Growth cultivate blue ribbon winning riffs so large they out-weigh any other riff you may see at the county fair.

One of my favorite Monty Python sketches involves a married couple discussing the differences between “woody” and “tinny” words. The idea is that the pronunciation determines the substance a word would be made of. Everyone in the scene agrees that woody words are superior. Now, with Olde Growth as one of the very best examples, we can see the superiority of woody metal as well. Venture through whatever forest is between you and this EP and listen to it obsessively as the seasons change faces and the trees extend further into the sky, you’ll never feel closer to the earth, or heavy metal.

Listen to Olde Growth here for FREE, with links to their website and Facebook pages:  http://oldegrowth.bandcamp.com/

And order their debut LP through Hydro-Phonic Records, who will also be handling the vinyl release of this amazing EP, here:  http://www.hydro-phonicrecords.com/releases.html

REVIEW: DOWN - IV, PART I (THE PURPLE EP)

New Orleans supergroup Down, composed of celebrated members from Pantera, Eyehategod, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and numerous other immensely talented and incestuous southern bands, have released the first of four planned EPs over the next couple years. The marketing approach seems to me an experiment with relevancy, adapting to a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mentality that’s settled in with so much music and entertainment so immediately available. Due to each member’s obligations in other bands Down has been notoriously sluggish with releasing new material. Hopefully by focusing on approximately six songs for each release there won’t be seven years between albums, like between their debut and follow-up record. Then again, considering the pedigree of these musicians there should really never be a moment of doubt regarding relevancy. There is enough songwriting starpower in Down to melt the northernmost ice caps just by playing riffs in their direction.

The album begins with ominous chugging guitars lurching forward like the silhouette of a predator in the mist. When the volume escalates and the song is close enough to bite, vocalist Phil Anselmo counts “1,2,3,4” to warn you of the coming attack. But the attack never truly happens. The Purple EP, as it’s been casually dubbed, feels like the equivalent of the hunting animal circling its prey, but when it comes time to feast the album lets the prey off the hook, allowing it to escape into the brush.

Opener “Levitation” isn’t the only song that doesn’t provide a proper pay-off. “Open Coffins” also begins with Anselmo counting off before wobbling into sleepy riffs mixed far below the over-sung melodies before being saved for a mid-song minute by a sneering breakdown offering a glimpse of attitude that’s far too rare on this album. The song stretches past five minutes, relying on a B side riff on an album that only has an A side. “The Curse” also ambles forward with all the energy of a fat somnambulist returning to bed with a belly full of late-night BBQ. Down has built their reputation on riffs that stomp through the mud and solos that soar above the quagmire, but the songs on The Purple EP seem content to mosey the straightest path start to finish.

This album as a whole drips with more 70s psychedelic acid than their prior releases, which seems like an influence Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein could have criminal amounts of fun injecting into the dirty hesher rock Down has made their own since their first album in 1995. Unfortunately, the fist-pumping hook on “Witchtripper” and the doses of dirgey doom on “Misfortune Teller” are the only memorable moments. As a whole it’s one of Anselmo’s weakest vocal offerings, seemingly juicing his voice and squeezing out most of the grit and pulp. Hopefully they’re saving those ingredients for the next EP.

Despite my disappointment in The Purple EP this band is still responsible for NOLA, one of the very best rock and roll records ever recorded, and nearly two decades of top-tier metal. This album may not have satisfied my appetite but I’ll still hungrily await the next EP and just sip on the bright moments from this album until then.

Visit Down’s website over at:  http://www.down-nola.com/

And you can find all their releases on Spotify, including NOLA, which I encourage every fan of rock music to listen to immediately.