REVIEW: Six of Swords, “Regime Decay” EP

By: Richard Maw


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 19/10/2018

Label: Independent

This record is wedded to the corpse of early to mid 90's old school DM and is all the better for it

“Regime Decay” CD//DD track listing:

1). Eye for an Eye

2). No Amnesia

3). Malodorous

4). Hunted

5). Hells Messiah

6). Hedonistic Gluttony

The Review

Six of Swords, Canada's finest death metal troupe, return with this beastly collection of six prime cuts. “Polar Vortex” was an EP release that ran surprisingly hot, reviewed on the blog a few years ago. This record has taken all elements present there and ratcheted them up a notch. 

Once again, the production is clear and powerful and the opener “Eye for an Eye” demonstrates that there is more to the band than out and out speed. The main refrain is straight out of the classic Morbid Angel playbook and the band keep things reined in tight- the expected blast never comes and instead this track is a crawling wretched beast. “No Amnesia” changes gear but not style- very pleasingly, this record is wedded to the corpse of early to mid 90's old school DM and is all the better for it.

Once again, the vocals alternate a little with lows as the main course and highs as the extra. “Malodorous” is a fetid exhalation of doomy breath, but the band also switches up to much faster pacing here as well. Excellent lead work and unexpected dynamics come up for air here too- great track. “Hunted” continues the tar-thick vibes and brings with it an Entombed-esque rhythmic approach.

“Hells Messiah” and “Hedonistic Gluttony” continue with some Euro/Swe-Death flourishes and it is clear that SOS have built upon the great “Polar Vortex” to hone and expand their sound. There are some great riffs here, some great leads, an excellent production and nothing that goes too over the top- no endless blasting, no pointless tracks that go nowhere. This is a focused and lean release that I heartily recommend to fans of any band mentioned in this review.

“Regime Decay” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

REVIEW: Tuskar, "The Tide, Beneath, The Wall" EP

By Andrew Field

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 07/12/2018

Label: Riff Rock Records

“The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” is likely to be one of the best EPs you’ll hear in 2018. Immerse yourself in it. It’s quite a ride.

“The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” CD//DD track listing:

1). The Tide

2). Beneath

3). The Wall

The Review:

I’m going to make a grand statement here, but one which will be backed up by anyone who’s caught these boys performing in dark and dingy venues over the last two years: Tuskarare the most exciting live band in the UK right now. On stage they are breathtakingly incendiary:  an aural hurricane demolishing everything in sight. After a typical half hour set you look around the venue to see Tuskar fans giving each other that knowing look, whilst newbies are busy pulling their jaws off the floor.

Most exceptional live bands fail to capture the visceral energy of their shows when they get in the studio. That’s not the case here. Tuskar’s molten riff workouts, so immaculately captured by Sam Thredder at the Slabdraggerguitarist’s Cro’s Nest Studio, are voluptuous in their groove and tone. “The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” is a quite exceptional piece of work.

Whilst you can hear reflections of Conan, Mastodon, BongCauldron and others in Tuskar’s sonic melange they are subsumed deep within the duo’s own electrifying musical howl. Underpinning everything is Tyler Hodges’ undulating drums: always groove-fuelled, often polyrhythmic, youthfully powerful. Rhythmically, moments of full-on head-nodding swagger flow effortlessly into fast passages packed full of time changes or snare rolls. He hits his crash cymbals then grasps them, playing on and off the bell of his ride cymbal, creating milliseconds of sonic wonder which you look forward to each and every time he does it. And Hodges does this whilst delivering Jon Davis-like monotone vocal bellows and wails which perfectly fit the music brewing underneath them him.

Tom Dimmock, like Hodges only in his early 20s, is already a tone monster. Nowhere is this more apparent then on closing track “The Wall”, which opens with huge slow swathes of distortion and gain-soaked guitar, becoming more and more widescreen as the track builds through its eight-minute duration. His psychedelic, echo-drenched solo towards the end of the track is a veritable masterclass in subtle, understated, less-is-more beauty.

There is a noticeable maturity in these three tracks. If last year’s debut EP “Arianrhod” was full of youthful vim and vehemence, “The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” shows what a difference 12 months can make. Tuskar have moved forward, as writers and musicians. They’ll doubtless be off to tour the fuck out of this release, honing their craft even further. Thus, I’m salivating at the thought of how good their debut full-length album is going to be when they get around to making it.

In the meantime, “The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” is likely to be one of the best EPs you’ll hear in 2018. Immerse yourself in it. It’s quite a ride.

“The Tide, Beneath, The Wall” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Kurokuma, "Dope Rider" EP

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 30/07/2018

Label: Doom Stew Records

Kurokuma prove once again, that trends in heavy music never last, but creating something unique and personal within the boundaries of heavy music, undoubtedly will.

“Dope Rider” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Dope Rider Part 1

2). Dope Rider Part 2

The Review:

I'm always drawn towards bands that tread their own path, so it's rather fitting that I get to review the phenomenal Kurokuma's latest EP, 'Dope Rider'. While the concept maybe based on a comic strip from marijuana themed publication High Times, fans of traditional stoner will be shocked at the lack of copy and paste pentatonic riffs and banshee wails.

Part one of this 2 part release teases the eardrums with Joe E. Allen's always hypnotic, tribal drumming while feedback and droning guitars build slowly. The verse riff is superb showing just how unique the band are in their approach to song writing and riff crafting. Driven by Allen's drumming, vocals are traded back and forth between guitarist Jacob Mazlum and bassist George Ionita to accentuate the rhythmic flow and as the track draws to its natural conclusion, awash with gritty psychedelic textures, it's Allen's use of the mighty cowbell that closes.

Part Two starts off meatier than a caveman barbecue with devastating, muted riffs amid drumming that seems off kilter but is nevertheless absolutely on point. The tremolo riffing caught me off guard and had me gurning and nodding in definite approval. By the time the most accessible closing riff bleeds out to some droning, notes, listeners will want to press play all over again. At least I did...about 6 times...

Kurokuma prove once again, that trends in heavy music never last, but creating something unique and personal within the boundaries of heavy music, undoubtedly will.

“Dope Rider” is available digital here. Cassette and CD available at www.doomstew.com/store/. Vinyl coming September 2018. 

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

REVIEW: Smock, "Interstellar Nobdy" [EP]

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: June 15, 2018

Label: Independent

Smock harnesses the darkest corners of retro rock, riding on surf guitar lines, fuzzed out bass, tight as fuck drum fills, and the often sweet but occasionally sinister vocals of Jenne Benicaso.

“Interstellar Nobody” DD track listing

1. Interstellar Nobody

2. Weird One

3. High Life

4. Bleach

The Review:

Maybe it’s the heat.  Maybe it’s the relentless humidity.  Maybe it’s that godawful haze that hangs over the industrial skyline.  But for me, this summer has been punctuated by tripped out psychedelic, punky, metallic garage rock weirdness.  In the same way that black metal treks through frozen tundra feels most effective after the truly bitter January chill has set in, the slick, sweaty, kind of nauseating midsummer swelter makes me feel like around every corner there could be a freakish Robert Crumb caricature or a roving pack of S. Clay Wilson pirate-bikers primed to bash my face with a bottle.  And there are few records as appropriate for these paranoid delusions as “Interstellar Nobody”, the debut EP by NJ’s own Smock.

A lot of neo-psych lays the flower power bullshit on thick, missing the speed-addled discomfort inherent in a lot of the best shit that influenced a generation of Pebbles and Nuggets listeners.  I mean, sure, the blissful Eastern mystic stuff has its place, but does it rock?  Not hardly.  Thankfully, Smock harnesses the darkest corners of retro rock, riding on surf guitar lines, fuzzed out bass, tight as fuck drum fills, and the often sweet but occasionally sinister vocals of Jenne Benicaso.  When, on closer “Bleach”, he croons “You know it. / I’ll wait, I’ll wait / I’m still waiting for you…” there’s something a bit unsavory, especially layered with reverb and over a krautrock progression their forebears from Neu! would be proud of.

The title track on is a sweet slice of doomy stoner rock that reminded me of the most promising tracks by Uncle Acid, but unlike the steadily midtempo jams of the English post-Wizard class, Smocklaunches into faster garage punk on “Weird One”.  The warbling, trebly high end guitar work of Benicaso and Zach Inkley is deftly balanced by Cameron Smith’s hefty bass tones, and the steady rhythms (courtesy of Dee Morris) makes “Weird One” the type of banger someone could (gasp!) maybe bop along to.  “High Life”, the fastest song on the EP, is also the most neurotic.  Benicaso’s hallucinatory narrations – “Sun becomes the sky / The Mud turns into the clay / The kingdom crumbles down / Are you listening” – are eerie but strangely beautiful.

“Bleach”, the aforementioned krautrock-indebted closer, is really a marvel and a testament to how promising this quartet is.  The opening buildup feels like the classic live-in-studio cuts of the garage greats Smock draws from, but organic, in this case, doesn’t mean low quality.  Both guitars are balanced in the mix, the bass has a solid presence, and Benicaso’s vocals maintain that distance in the mix that more rock bands need to aspire to.  The guitar harmonies are really lovely too, and manage to sound heavy without sounding like atonal noise.  It’s the rare record that drew me in more the further I went, and left me aching for the next (hopefully full length) release.  And while it’s the perfect jam for my summer, I’d be happy to spin these tracks any time of year.

“Interstellar Nobody”is available at here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Acid Priest, "Drop Out" [EP]

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 05/06/2018

Label: Independent

Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling.  Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.

“Drop Out” DD track listing

1. Initiation

2. WarWagon

3. The King Tide

4. Let Go

5. EYEZZ

The Review:

My media libraries seem to be inundated with odes to psychedelic explorations – the complete Zap Comix line my shelves next to the midnight movies of Alejandro Jodorowsky abutting mind melting genre writers and the discographies of prolific drug takers too numerous to mention.  But I have to admit up front that for all my rhapsodizing about stoner riffs and psychedelic freakouts, and a less than saintly life in 33 years, I’ve never taken the plunge into LSD.  I’m cripplingly neurotic on my best days and convinced I’ll step into a nightmare vision out of a Beksinski painting the moment I drop acid.  But after listening to the warped, fuzzy, oddly beautiful tunes on “Drop Out”, the church of the Acid Priest may find new lysergic converts.

It’s all about the riffs for these punky metal rockers.  There’s a warm current of Thin Lizzy running through all five tracks of their debut EP, but intro track “Initiation” is like a harmonic blast of golden 70s hard rock.  Guitarist Zakk Mild’s riff is so finely crafted, in fact, that it feels a bit wasted on an intro.  No matter, since there are stellar riffs to spare in the four remaining bangers.  “WarWagon”hinges on a gallop that recalls the early days of NWOHBM – when it still retained a strong crossover appeal to punkers and heshers alike.  Bassist and lead vocalist Spliff Burton doesn’t reinvent the wheel of classic metal bass playing – he lays it out solid and thick, with few frills.  His unique cadence as a vocalist is really something – belting out some snarling lines on this one and sliding into a gothy croon on “Let Go” and “EYEZZ” that feels like some desert rock cranked to 11.  The doomy, stoner outro of “WarWagon”manages to pull of pyrotechnic shreds and ignorant riffs – not an easy feat for seasoned veterans, let alone guys cranking out a debut.  The “King Tide” is steeped in Cali hardcore but way more headbanging than half that shit could aspire to.  Loaded with hooks and equipped with a memorable, shouted chorus, it’s no wonder that this was the band’s first single.

“Let Go” shifts gears from sheer aggression to weirder, sinister tones.  Between Burton’s smoothed out vocals and the reverb-laden guitar lines of the verses make recalls the golden era of stoner metal.  The shuffling rhythms here are key; Steve Kunzel’s drumming is jazzy punked out metal precision that would make Bill Ward proud, and make plenty of modern metal drummers blush from embarrassment at their own double kick monotony.  When the mellow sheen drops, the chaos lurks beneath, and it’s largely because of this percussive dynamic.  The eerie, spacey ending, complete with spoken word poetry, makes it a memorable and oddly affecting track.  The closer “EYEZZ” is another total left field freakout.  Layered with sinister organ playing, monastic chanting, and gothy whispers, I found myself recalling the bizarre Euro-metal outliers of 80s metal, especially Italian creep-doomsters Black Hole, before a hardcore break, followed by some evil prog like the bastard spawn of Deep Purple and “Red” era King Crimson.

If the genre shifts, tempo changeups, and mashup of clean and shouted vocals sound overwhelming… well that’s because it is!  But in a remarkably cohesive, rocking way.  There’s no gimmick at the heart of this trio, just strait up headbanging rock indebted to the classics while not playing the boring game of nostalgia-fueled pastiche.  Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling.  Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.

“Drop Out” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

REVIEW: Iron Reagan & Gatecreeper, "Split"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 02/03/2018

Label: Relapse Records

“Split” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Iron Reagan, “Warning”

2. Iron Reagan, “Paper Shredder”

3. Iron Reagan, “Take the Fall”

4. Iron Reagan, “Proudly Unaccountable”

5. Iron Reagan, “Burn for This”

6. Gatecreeper, “Daybreak” (Intro)

7. Gatecreeper, “Dead Inside”

8. Gatecreeper, “War Has Begun”

The Review:

               

Splits are regularly some of my favorite releases – so much so that in my yearly rundown I tried to highlight some of the real standouts in a growing field of collaborative metal albums.  With grind splits, you can end up with several bands spitting out double digit tracks and not break the twenty minute mark, or, in the case of Fister & CHRCH, you can have two sludge powerhouses spewing out 15-20 minute odes to suffering.  Maybe my favorites are those cross-subgenre cage matches, like the latest split between punky crossover thrashers Iron Reagan and decrepit death conjurers Gatecreeper.  Aside from rock solid production and rugged intensity, these two metal standouts have little in common.  But like a particularly memorable basement show, the disparity actually makes this brief hunk of aggression amount to more than its scant eighteen minutes would suggest.

               

Iron Reagan need no real introduction at this point – the members have been responsible for some of the best death, crossover, thrash and hardcore of the last few years.  The five cuts they contribute are like a little tour through classic hardcore punk and 80s thrash – opener “Warning” has a bright, SoCal hardcore tone that, at first listen, almost sounds like a massive Hammond organ.  Paper Shredder ups the LAxHC antics, with a tapped out intro lead, Anthraxindebted gang vocals, and palm muted builds to full on mosh breaks.  “Take the Fall” swaps coasts as the most classically Bay Area thrash metal cut on the record – the chugging rhythm work is the real standout, while the lead flourishes are pure Hammett worship.  “Proudly Unaccountable” is the briefest outing on the record (at a pummeling 45 seconds), but the strange rhythm changeups had me thinking of midperiod Black Flag with blast beats.  “Burn for This” may be my favorite cut on the record, a brutal little number that practically sounds like skatepunk.  I could certainly imagine it blasting behind a Bones Brigade tape.  The whammy bar work walks a thin line between Slayer divebombs and East Bay Ray surfer leads.  As a closer, it’s a rad sendoff that speaks volumes to how Iron Reaganis far more than a nostalgia act – these guys whip up a punky metal cocktail with their own signature on every riff, every breakdown, and every shouted lyric.

               

Gatecreeper somehow slipped under my radar until this split and, boy, am I ready to delve into their surprisingly large catalogue (especially for a band only formed in 2013!).  Vomiting out filthy, nihilistic death, the Arizona five-piece inserts the right amount of punk rhythm into their crushing metal riffs.  Drummer Matt Arrebollo slides just enough punk fury into his galloping double-kick attacks to keep things from ever getting repetitive.   Intro track “Daybreak” is a neat instrumental pummeling, but one-two punch of the abysmally downbeat “Dead Inside” and the apocalyptic “War Has Begun” made me crave a lot more of what Gatecreeper has to offer.  Wagner and Garrett’s occasional harmonic flourishes really had me hooked into their old school death metal, while the rhythm is gut churning in all the right ways.  If I had any complaints about the release, it’s that Gatecreeper didn’t have five tracks of death to counter the five bursts of enervating crossover thrash from Iron Reagan.  Like the best splits, this left me craving more… I suppose for now another spin of this excellent record will have to suffice.

“Split” is available here

Band info: Iron Reagan|| Gatecreeper

EXCLUSIVE STREAM & REVIEW: Aerosol Jesus bring the heavy underground to its knees with debut "Failure"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 28/04/2018

Label: Astral Noize Records

Imagine the bludgeoning weight of Old Man Gloom and Sumac engulfed by a wave of thick, dirty noise and you have a good idea of the oppressive atmosphere Aerosol Jesus create.

“Failure” CS//DD track listing:

1). Legacy

2). Here is not here

3). The Inbetween

4). Lurch Leech Grasp

The Review:

Right from the first filthy, earth-shaking chord it is clear that Aerosol Jesus’ debut EP is something very special. “Failure” consists of just four tracks but this is enough to demonstrate the frightening power of this Brighton quintet.

The ominous introduction of “Legacy” builds tension with a funereal drum beat and distant squeals of feedback. When the band fully kicks in, the impact is devastating. Imagine the bludgeoning weight of Old Man Gloom and Sumacengulfed by a wave of thick, dirty noise and you have a good idea of the oppressive atmosphere Aerosol Jesus create. Sections of pummelling sludge give way to outbreaks of scratchy black metal that elevate the track into epic yet still dark territory.

Throughout the EP the music is a perfect match for the bleak despondency of the lyrics. The most spine-tingling example of this is when the slow-burning restraint of “The Inbetween” erupts into a huge lament of “Standing on the edge of life and death”. “Lurch Leech Grasp” closes proceedings with a lumbering, queasy doom riff that squeezes maximum despair from every note. The treacly tempo is punctuated by an outburst of horrible noise rock riffage that highlights Aerosol Jesus’talent to bring a level of nastiness to their sludge that few can match.

It is rare to hear a band so fully formed on their first release. If “Failure” is anything to go by, Aerosol Jesus are set to bring the heavy underground to its knees.  

“Failure”is available here

Band info: facebook

REVIEW: Knaaves, "January" [EP]

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 20/02/2018

Label: Independent

“January” is a defiant hardcore manifesto that feels unrelenting from literally the first five seconds out of the gate.

“January”DD track listing

1. January

2. Nine Lives Lost

The Review:

Although it is hard to call the two-song "January"an EP, Milwaukee's Knaaves emerge with a bellicose stance and plenty of reasons to keep an eye out for this viscerally tantalizing four-piece.

While the band is not exactly a supergroup, Knaaves has several explosive regional performers in its midst. It may be best known for the inclusion of Amanda Daniels. Bassist Daniels formerly played in hardcore act Enabler, which gained traction not too long ago. She departed the group in 2015, alleging physical and sexual abuse by former boyfriend and Enabler'schief songwriter and vocalist Jeff Lohrber. Dustin Albright, who toured with the band, issued a long Facebook statement then backing up Daniels' claims, including assaults he'd witnessed. Lohrber went on the offensive after Daniels' story broke, virtually denying the accusations and claiming a witch hunt against him. Shortly thereafter, however, Enabler dissolved into indefinite hiatus land. A few years may have passed, but it is evident Daniels' formidable bass work is as transcendent as ever.

The title song is a defiant hardcore manifesto that feels unrelenting from literally the first five seconds out of the gate. There are likely a dozen apt and favorable comparisons one could make to this sort of intensity. Suffice to say Knaaves represent themselves on the opener quite well. Andy Parmann is a volatile frontman, caterwauling hard against the jagged guitar riffs of Jamie Kerwin. Kerwin grabs you with his musicianship throughout, in fact; blistering chords at the start of the song melt into a wailing, anguished conclusion.

Drummer Antonio Ninham is also going to catch your ear on "January." He punctuates both songs from the beginning, and interpolates fast, aggressive beats with melodic playing that blends effortlessly into Daniels' bass lines. "Nine Lives Lost" showcases the experience in Knaaves' narcotic rhythm section, with Daniels blasting charcoal-black thickness to the music and reminding you why she's been appreciated for so long as a musician. Knaaves make the most of this song, which stays within hardcore conventions mostly, but still manages to be subversive and dystophic in the presentation.

Your only complaint is that these abrasive selections are quite scorching, and you want to know what else Knaaves has in the tank for more than two songs. There is much to like about "January" though. Now let's have the full-length.

“January”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Mendacium, "Decimating Titans" [EP]

By: Conor O’Dea

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 09/02/2018

Label: Redefining Darkness Records

“The entire EP is unrelenting and relentlessly riff-dense, at once brutal, joyous and, dare I say it, punishingly fun. Highly-caffeinated and intelligent death-encrusted black metal; recommended wholeheartedly. I can only hope that there is a full-length in Mendacium's future!”

“Decimating Titans” CS//DD track listing:

1. Decimating Titans
2. An Invocation for Bloodshed
3. Eviscerate
4. Make No Grave in My Name

The Review:

Daniel Jackson is a man of prodigious talent, possessed of an expansive and deep musical vocabulary. His project Void Ritual presents a melodic and grandly atmospheric approach to black metal; there are bold and sweeping passages of sorrow and mourning, of victory and triumph throughout the battlefields and icy wastes conjured in the skald-worthy sagas of “Holodomor” and “Heretical Wisdom”. This is not to suggest that Void Ritual is in any way lacking in savagery; it is rather a filtered savagery that uses war as one of many compositional features along its complex musical topography.

This dilution of violence in Void Ritual is inverted into pure warlike alchemical distillation in the new EP by Daniel's other musical project Mendacium, aptly entitled “Decimating Titans”.  For me, the double entendre of decimation wrought by the Titans as well as that wrought upon them by the revolt of their offspring are both gratifyingly scored by this short and devastating 4-track album. Blistering must be one of the most overused words in metal reviews, but damn it, I am not sure there is a better way to describe the opening and unrelenting full-clip salvo of the opening (and title) track here. Almost instantly bursting into onslaught, this song feels like the autobiographical account of endless slaughter, each verse punctuated by a chorus that can only be likened to the gloating over the corpses of enemies. 

“Invocation to Bloodshed”bears a deeply magickal resonance in its structure, evoking whorls of high theurgic energies, complete with preparatory chants and refrains, line by line moving the spell towards its final, devastating release at 3:11. The next track, “Eviscerate”, may, in fact, be an account of the bloodletting unleashed by the ritual of the second track: it cuts a bloody swathe through its 4 minute path, an unforgiving barrier of spinning blades that leaves no living being alive in its wake. “Make No Grave in My Name” functions as an excellent tombstone to this blood-soaked metal mausoleum and reminds me, for obvious reasons, of Robert E. Howard's short story “Dig Me No Grave”: "Then, even as we cried out in horror, it was gone and our dazed gaze met only the shuddering walls and blazing roof which crumpled into the flames with an earth-shaking roar."

The entire EP is unrelenting and relentlessly riff-dense, at once brutal, joyous and, dare I say it, punishingly fun. Highly-caffeinated and intelligent death-encrusted black metal; recommended wholeheartedly. I can only hope that there is a full-length in Mendacium'sfuture!

“Decimating Titans”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Green Lung - "Free the Witch" [EP]

By: David Jupp

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 19/02/2018

Label: Deckhead Records

In a genre packed with bands that draw on decades-old tone and aesthetic, it takes a mature hand to re-appropriate bygone creativity without sounding forced. Luckily there is a confidence and craft present in Green Lung’s writing that belies their months.  If Green Lung can expand the template that has served them so well across these four superb songs then a truly exciting future awaits.

“Free the Witch” CS//DD track listing:

1). Lady Lucifer

2). Free the Witch

3). Living Fossil

4). Older than the Hills

The Review:

It’s been two hundred and fifty days or so since Green Lungannounced themselves on the UKheavy-stage with their blistering demo ‘Green Man Rising.’ In the months that have passed since that promising release, the London quartet have refined their craft across a host of England’s underground stages. Now armed with a growing following and half-an-hour of new material, the question is can Green Lung transfer the heft and excitement of their live show to tape?

‘Free the Witch’ sparks with lead single ‘Lady Lucifer’ and a crescendo of crisp guitar hammer-on. As the tension builds and we reach the twenty-seventh second, Green Lung proceed to drop the hammer on what is sure to be one of 2018’s stand-out riffs. The groove on display here bangs with such an endearing audacity that you can only hope the record to follow will measure up. As guitarist Scott Masson whittles down the dirt, singer Tom Templar makes his entrance. Washed in reverb and folk-horror croon Templar transmutes the bands 70’s aesthetic, from cover to sound. ‘You smiled with lips incarnadine, whispered black magic, rites obscene.’ As the song climbs to its apex Masson cracks the reigns with an outrageous solo and “Free the Witch”’s opener sets a ridiculous standard.

Title track ‘Free the Witch’ is up next and is a much more direct affair. The lurch and swerve of ‘Evil Empire’ that crackled in the opener is now replaced with a full pelt nod to debut-era The Sword. Just as the record becomes in danger of reverting to type the arrangement peels back and Masson injects another well-judged solo. ‘Free the Witch’ lurches home on a bed of cultish chant and half-time stagger.

In making the jump to Bear Bites Studios (Vodun, Ghold) and employing Wayne Adams on production Green Lung have shed the compressed savagery of their live demo and allowed their stellar rhythm-section room to breathe. Track three ‘Living Fossil’demonstrates this upgrade perfectly and the song is all Andrew Cave’s. The arrangement follows a similar pattern but before any unwanted familiarity encroaches, Cave’s bass swaggers in for an overdriven solo. The months spent on various stages refining these cuts is evident and Templar hauls the song home, ‘Living fossil, a blast from the past.’

Green Lung’s debut closes in sprawling fashion with ‘Older than the Hills.’ Not content to banish their live demo to audio-history there is a clever re-integration of the vocal hook from ‘Freak on a Peak’but this time the extended track-length really allows the band to flex their muscles. Across its eight minutes each musician takes a moment in the spotlight, and as Masson’s guitar wails in the storm Cave and Wiseman’s rhythm section rumble home on an array of deft fills and charming girth.

In a genre packed with bands that draw on decades-old tone and aesthetic, it takes a mature hand to re-appropriate bygone creativity without sounding forced. Luckily there is a confidence and craft present in Green Lung’swriting that belies their months. This confidence is only emphasised by the fact that b-side ‘When the Axe Comes Down’ is left off their debut. When you are in a vein of writing so rich you can cast away such strong songs it can only be a good omen. And that is what ‘Free the Witch’ is, an impressive and rousing omen, of greater things to come. If Green Lung can expand the template that has served them so well across these four superb songs then a truly exciting future awaits.

“Free the Witch” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook