I had clocked the name of this NY based bunch swirling around the ether of the internet and thought they must be worth checking out considering they are self-released and only have previous EP prior to this one. Also it was impossible to resist as the blurb accompanying these three tracks mentions such a mouth-watering array of bands from Eyehatgod, to Swans, Saint Vitus, Godflesh, Carnivore and beyond, that I was practically salivating before even pressing play. Alas sometimes such expectations can be a band’s downfall and it is best to let the listener make up their own mind and I have to admit that this is much the case here. Another two acts and favourites of this writer caught up in this hyperbole are Amebix and Killing Joke and when the tribal thud of the percussions bounds in on ‘They Who Speak To The Lost’ I did sit up and start taking notes in my head. Fair play, the drummer is certainly singing from that particular hymn-sheet and puts on an impressive display throughout this brief EP but apart from that I’m pretty lost on further comparisons to my particular gods. The main grit here is pretty much brash and ballsy sludge that’s wrung out through a formidable bass heavy production giving it a real gritty hard edge. Vocalist Mike Stack who I believe could well be brother of that aforementioned drumming force breaths vocal fire over things in a style that roars as loudly as possible over the dense instrumentation. There’s a bit of a ‘core’ stance to his delivery and he does get some cleaner parts over the top and there are also some higher pitched grind style parts delivered in the background too.
‘Spirit World’ stomps in slowly but no less hard as the singer growls like a pissed off bulldog and the drum pounds along with snares crunching away. I’m looking for all those comparisons and pretty much failing on all fronts, this is unfortunately pretty bog standard sludgy stuff that although bellowing and churning away like a maniac slinging raw slabs of meat at the wall isn’t really tearing my world apart like I had hoped. Lead-lined doom tones brood and claustrophobically strangle tightly on the title track. Vocals are now high and sharp, before the lower guttural ones come in. Guessing there might be two vocalists doing the business here and yep there is a definite god of the eyehating variety about this as a groove line is injected and swaggers off strutting its stuff. There is a real apocalyptic sense to it all as it rumbles to conclusion which adds some nihilistic atmosphere. Not completely false then and certainly showing promise, there might be more to substantiate things here in the future but although I feel like I have definitely been poked with a stick, I am yet to be properly clubbed around the head with it.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
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