This is dirty. This is heavy. This is covered in sweat and pus and someone else’s tears with no money for a night bus or a kebab. This is the sound of every packed, over-heated club show bunged in a Moulinex and turned into a fatty shake. It is the sort of music that hardcore kids used to dragon punch and high kick each other to in the Underworld or Snooty Fox.
This London mob (why do we all say mob – they don’t wear sports coats and shout fuggedabouttid) have been blasting away since 2010 assaulting all and sundry with their blend of sludgecoredeath. ™
“Concrete Burial” is an apt title as the riffs are damn weighty. Opener Brainhammer opens with a slow rumbling riff and a death metal vocal that piqued my interest from the get go. The track seems to get heavier and heavier with the final refrain building to a crunching end. I can imagine a crowd screaming “Fuck this world” along with Mark O’ Regan as they claw at each other in the pit.
“Inferis” that follows does not do it for me. Death metal chug but no bloodstained hook to hang it on. It does not keep my interest. Great sound but not my bag.
The title track that follows though? Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Filthy groove. One for the hips as well as the neck. Bill Jacobs (also of London dirt mongers Gurt) get loose with his drums and the bass of Will Wichanski follows him. Great drum sound on this one and then a breakdown of epic proportions. Geof Foden and Aled Marc unleash a behemoth of a riff that could slay any poseurs that dare venture stage-wards.
There are 8 tracks in all here and the running time is 28 minutes. Yup that’s right, under half an hour! Remember the good old days when bands just got on with it and left you panting on the floor? Thank fuck Diesel King do.
“Facesplitter” is a sludgeathon . A cacophony of riff and beat based around the word of the title. Simple, raw and effective.
Then a descent in to chaos! “Mask of the Leper” is 80 secs of brutal death metal punctuated by crushing doom riffs and ending in early Napalm Death grind. Everybody is happy!
“Prone to Destroy” seems almost proggy after the last track. More tricks up the sleeve of Diesel King though. A blistering thrash passage during this heavy bastard of a tune keeps me on my toes. The love of all things extreme is evident within the songwriting on “Concrete Burial” and each riff or blast or vocal line is delivered with such conviction that you can see that these guys mean business and love what they do. The beautiful thing is they appear to want to share that love.
“The mutilation” ends this collection of crushing choons in style.
Diesel King are well known on the live scene and have picked up a lot of fans away from the capital. This album can only add to this. Submit to the concrete burial. It will only hurt for a bit!
(7.5/10 Matt Mason)
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