Review by Richard Henry for MPM
Track 1 -All Pigs
Starting the album off with a vocal refrain before the band kicks in and straight away, yes, a proper drum sound where you can hear the crack of the wood and not processed to hell, lovely! Really cool stomping groove to this one, now bear with me, why am I thinking of the Doors? Just that sort of desert feeling guitar part over the bass and drum groove, it’s sort of hypnotic, I really lie how the music is to the forefront and the vocal is back in the mix as we get three little pigs, its dense I think is a good word but it’s well enough produced that everything has its own space, when the guitar riff does drop your already two mins into the track, the track is a good five mins and before you know it you are through it, really cool and very different!
Track 2 – Bad People
Now there is a sludgy riff to start this one, real sort of COC vibe for me the start of that before it breaks down into the verse and it’s a driving bass line and drum part, now I am intrigued to what each bass player (there are 3 of them are doing), am I listening to distorted bass and then one plays clean tone etc., cause I hear all of that, there are some proper good riffs in this one but again it’s the dynamics where it breaks down to the clean bass and the vocal part over the top of it, very atmospheric, then it kicks into that sludgy riff again, really noisy solo middle section, full of reverb and space, more textural than a solo as such, again it’s like a dreamscape, soundtrack sort of vibe I am getting after the first two tracks, really interesting!
Track 3 – Pro Driver
Driving tom groove to track this off and then what straight away reminds me of something that Primus would do, especially even when the vocals come in, then you get slammed with a real Sabbath riff before it drops back into the verse again, heavy trem bar section the comes in like a solo part, again I am assuming its guitar, I could be wrong, and then like a tape slowing down the song is done!
Track 4 – Tiny People
Sabbath again, oh yeah, that’s a nice riff to kick that off and that bass line is carrying the verse with the guitar (again I assume it could be bass) peppering the verse and then the riff keeps driving and the second verse just keeps the riff going, and wow its over ok, that was a minute long song, really cool though, great groove and riff all the way through!
Track 5 – Clouds
Almost industrial metal sounding intro part, that snare drum sounds so God damn good, as do all the instruments, well recorded and produced, slinky bass line with an atmospheric melody part droning over it, then a filtered bass part comes in as well, before the vocals sort of slip in the back door, this one is sort of like the first track as in its pretty epic, really spacey but lots of elements to it and you can hear them all, it takes a listen or two to digest all the parts, so soundscape sounding! Honestly, get a set of headphones and listen to this one, all the little parts that are back there maybe not in the fore but add to the overall sound, then when that mountain of a riff hits, it gets so dark and heavy, then a really chilled guitar figure comes in and I said it before, hypnotic, really is, you are six mins in without even realizing it, loved this track!
Track 6 – Lullaby
Droning sort of synth bass intro to this one, with a creepy vocal, then the drums come in with a tribal groove and what sounds to me like chimes or tubular bells with it, listen to all the stuff in the background that’s not just the bass, vocals or drums, it all adds to the drama of the verse, then into the tubular bells and a really modulated part sweeping away, it then picks up a bit and drives, almost like a call and response vocal part comes in, two different things going on, the whole time the track is constantly building up and you can hear like a Wah guitar part and then smack, it gets heavy and then a really textured octave part, then a sort of Wah modulated what I can only describe as a Cliff Burton type bass sound, then after some stabs there is the synth bass and chimes again, before the riff shifts again to like a real chromatic grinding part with an almost chanted type vocal part, it’s really ominous like something is about to happen, then it slows down and down till it comes to an end!
Track 7 – Rotting in the Belly of the Whale
Well, that’s not eerie, a heavily ring modulated clean melody comes in, now that is 100% Sabbath worship on that riff, I love it, again the vocals are just like an instrument, driving forward with the same pace and ominousness as the riff, then that chorus is totally COC/Sabbath, again you get the textured Wah bass part before you go into verse two, I love that middle part where the song still keeps driving but the riff changes and expands massively, then into that slab of a riff into that chorus again, I love the way they bring the intro riff in again as the chorus keeps playing as the song ends, great songwriting!
Track 8 –Darkness
Synth bass intro with a heavily processed vocal part swirling around with it, then into a slow deliberate drum groove on the toms and snare, again that clean melody idea comes in over the top of the groove and listen to all the different textures in the back as well just making the whole vibe of the song, desert rock and soundtrack, for sure! The vocals again are really storytelling and are nestled in the groove and it all is sort of one thing, when it does build it doesn’t get heavier it just gets more… expansive is probably the best word! When it hits the distorted part your already four mins into the song and you have been on a journey at this point, the groove is still the same and again it’s hypnotic, the vocals climb in pitch and intensity for the middle section, then we get hit with a new groove, much more energetic than the precious parts but still droning, it’s all about the groove and the overall song, when you think it’s going to be heavier the guitars are clean adding a texture to the outside of the sound, before then it gets darker and heavier, the last three mins of the song are building a falling and changing all over the same riff and it really does suck you in and time fades away and before you know it your eleven mins through the track!
Track 9 – Buried Believers
Strange, that’s the word for the start of this, like Willy Wonka has maybe taken a bit too much product, then a nasty riff hits, again there is like a textured part in there as well adding to the overall creepiness of the riff, almost spoken vocal in the verse, again adding the creepy factor, nice doubled vocal part comes in with a spoken and higher sung vocal, it’s all about that stomping groove and then it changes in the middle section with what sounds like a clown playing a piano solo (in a good way) it’s a chilling part, the way it breaks down at the end and starts to strip to you get the bass and the vocals is really cool and just like that its over!
9 out of 10
I knew nothing of these guys before listening to this, it’s weird, it’s quirky, it’s like a desert rock soundtrack with a droning hypnotic quality to it all, crossed with elements of Sabbath and COC, and I really enjoyed it, not my normal thing but interesting, totally worth a go!
