“Eyehategod’s new self-titled record is one born out of tribulation. Pulling it together to pen a new record 14 years after the release of its predecessor Confederacy of Ruined Lives, the incumbent kings of drug-addled sludge metal miserablism have gone through a litany of troubles, including poverty, drug withdrawal, prison time and an apocalyptic natural disaster.” Trials and tribulations can’t keep Eyehategod from returning to sic the gators of despair on you once again.
“”Noise” is a term often used to describe metal by those who haven’t yet submersed themselves in the genre. When you’re not used to being assaulted by distortion and screams, the whole panoply of extreme genres undoubtedly poses a seemingly impenetrable thicket of bloodied thorns; it seems insane that people would choose to settle in such an environment, make their homes there, and grow the forest ever greater. Indian are the fetid leaf litter of the forest, the floor of grimy, wet, compacted remains where plantae gives way to fungi and fungi to bacteria.” Kronos weaves a strange tale of forests, mulch and mouse bones as he unveils an early candidate for Album of the Year.
“It’s unusual to see a Southern metal band opting for comic-style album artwork, one typically expects to see John Baizley’s surreal, exotic and naked-women-filled art gracing the cover. However, the music on this record is anything but comical; this Arkansas sextet means (retro) business.” Happy Metal Guy talks on the merits of prescription drugs, dope, sludge and rehab and he manages to fit in a review of Iron Tongue’s The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown!
“Even attempting to articulate just how great a band Moss are at what they do is a fool’s errand. Not only is their sound crushing and brooding beyond any band I’ve ever experienced but every new recording they release seems like a blue-moon event that simply cannot be missed. Horrible Night, Moss’ latest album, was met with an equal amount of excitement to die-hard fans, me among them — anxiously waiting for the follow-up to 2009’s absolutely monolithic Sub Templum, which is one of doom/drone metal’s best releases bar none.” Noctus tells you whether or not it was worth not sleeping or eating for months to get his hands on the very first copy of Horrible Night.
“The guitarist plays his guitar while high on meth-infused beer, plugging the guitar cable into a meth-powered amplifier and stomps on the pedal incessantly with the enthusiasm of a little kid playing Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade. The drummer prefers rhythmic consistency to speed; the bassist wears an invisibility cloak even as he hits low notes that causes window panes to reverberate, giving away his presence; the vocalist sings about life’s saddest moments (boo-hoo v.v). Finally, there are also calm, acoustic interludes that serve as breaks between heavy passages.”
Quite an epic album. The fuzz is there in all its imperfect majesty, while the pace is as slow as ever, bringing back the doom where it belongs: in the realm of repetitions, through think layers of narcotic sounds. Overall, the final result is a solid evolution from the psychedelic throes of Shadows of the Shapeless, but whoever (well, everyone) says that Kongh sound like Yob is right. And yet they’re wrong at the same time [Oh God! Which is it!? — AMG], since the sound these three lost souls from Nässjö and Småland (that’s southern Sweden, for the most curious nerds amongst yourselves) seem to enjoy touching on the likes of Alice in Chains (“Skymning”), Mastodon (“Sole Creation”) and Brooklyn’s own Tombs.
