In the world of the badger faced extreme metallers, there seems to be a competition to have the most indecipherable logo, doubtless to match their equally indecipherable hell screamed lyrics. Enter the world of the Iommi worshipping Doom community, and there is a similar competition to get in as many “Witch”, “Iron” or “Mountain” references as possible. Fight your way into the THC infused realms of the Stoner band, and you’d think that Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard had won the prize for must tripped out band name, when slouching out of London and generating their own sweet fog to play their fuzziest trump card comes Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, complete with their debut LP ‘Come & Chutney’.
‘Doggy Bag of Slurry’ opens the proceedings in a suitably trippy fashion, the opening drum beat sounding like the kit was slowly tumbling down a very long yet shallow set of steps whilst the uncaring roadie stared on through reddened eyes, all before the down-tuned riff and a bass line so laden with fuzz that it would choke Ronco’s legendary “Fuzz-Away” join in; it’s as if the band wrote the tune on a giant Rizla paper which they promptly rolled up and burnt for inspiration. Not all is slow, albeit is low, and ‘Krones of the Kiln’ chugs past in an almost indecently fast three minutes, the sludgy sonic waves the band create guaranteed to flap the flares of their most ardent listeners whilst shaking some of the grime from their crusty denim-cut offs (“battle-jackets” sod right off!). This thudding Venom continues into ‘Cojones Feos’, a track that is far from being the fuck ugly unwanted pup of the litter that the title may suggest. ‘Glue Ear’ follows, presumably dedicated to the effect of pouring this much dirty sludge down your external auditory canal, and whilst I would not normally recommend such an activity, in the case of Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, I suggest this would be bloody practise to take up.
Not all is simply worship of the weed, and the band get all political with ‘Döner Trump’, and let me assure you, it is not a love song to that orange skinned Oompa Loompa of hate. However, as excellent as they are the first seven tracks of ‘Come & Chutney’ are, they are really a build up to the sublime and epically titled ‘Psychedelic Hallucinogenic Vagrancy’, where the bass, drums, guitar and vocals of power trio Will, Mark, and Owen are joined by some excellently mellow keyboards, as well as the siren voice of Vodun’s own Chantal Brown, the whole number building up and coming together to match the likes of early Pink Floyd for sheer power and presentation. I know some folks will hate the idea of those rock dinosaurs being mentioned on the pages of Ave Noctum, but trust me, before they disappeared up their own collective rectums and then petered out with the damp squib of ‘The Endless River’, they were most definitely worth a listen, and this comparison is meant only as a compliment.
Four years after they formed, Thunderous Chubby Bad Kush Masters have finally released their debut LP in the shape of ‘Come & Chutney’, and all the experience the band picked up slogging around the underground scene comes to the fore, so pull your curtains closed, switch on your black lights, enjoy your favourite relaxant, and crank up the volume of this little beauty.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
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