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

ALBUM REVIEW: Eagle Twin, "The Thundering Heard"

By: John Reppion

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 30/03/2018

Label: Southern Lord Recordings

“The Thundering Heard” is a dense and rich record; full of aural and textual interest. It’s a record that makes you think, makes you imagine.  It is a visceral, heavy, epic Riff Monster of a record with horns of flame and hooves of stone.

“The Thundering Heard” CD//LP//DD track listing:

1). Quanah Un Rama 

2). Elk Wolfv Hymn

3). Heavy Hoof

4). Antlers of Lightning  

The Review:

“Longhorn running ‘cross the dead salt sea / Mountains rising up like beasts with horns like trees / Antlers reaching high, like a forest… On fire!”

“The Thundering Herd (Songs of Hoof and Horn)" is Eagle Twin's third full-length album, following on from 2012's "The Feather Tipped the Serpent's Scale" and 2009's "The Unkindness of Crows". Like its predecessors “The Thundering Heard " deftly blends crushing, yet hypnotic riffs and beats, with American literary Folk Horror. Which is pretty impressive for a two-piece, really.

“Quanah Un Rama” (a fittingly bicornuous title based on Hellboy's Enochian name "Anung un Rama”, and Quanah Parker, Comanche war leader of the "Antelope" people…possibly) opens with a harmonic drone from vocalist/guitarist Gentry Densely’s throat. At once bestial and like some primal religious vocalisation, this inhuman sound underpins much of the record. Then a Big Fat Riff kicks in. And it is Massive. Truly earth moving. The guitar sounds (right across the record) are just… wow. More Om than Sleep, but with all the groove and swagger of the latter. The track jams on and on moving from part to part, texture to texture, but the same narrative remains throughout; every progression is a natural and necessary, and another chapter of the same story. When Densely chants “Come now / Thunder / Come now / Thunder cloud” over Tyler Smith's tribal tom-work, it sounds like a genuine summoning. You will believe that the sky above the studio was black that day.

“Elk Wolfv Hymn” swells in dreamily, yet ominously. We huddle close to the wilderness campfire for another folk-tale of stags and vultures and trees, of mountains and antlers and wolves. And in that same magical way Earth managed with “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skul”l, there’s something so incredibly American about the actual sound of the music itself. The wild, untamed, real America where bears and mountain lions and alligators think nothing of cracking and crunching the bones of humans to get to the marrow within. And crow keeps watch all the while.

“The Heavy Hoof clips / The Heavy Hoof clops / And the Heavy Hoof stamps on your grave”. Another massive riff. Another tom thumping groove. Another absolute belter of a tune, which seems to threaten to evolve into the heaviest version of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” you could possibly imagine at one point. But that doesn't happen.

“Antlers of Lightening” begins as pure Sabbath Doom: lumbering, tritone laden heaviness with proclamations of the terror to come in the form of the lightning antlered one. Again through, as the music evolves, the guitar becomes more frenetic, and everything builds and builds and builds, we get an idea of the emerging narrative. We hear the destruction wrought by the electo-horned deity, and the fate of those who dared to try to stop it. About ten minutes in it seems for one moment like we're going to get an actual “Children of the Grave” style chug-a-chug-a-chug-chug breakout riff. Instead things slow back down and jam out until we reach the bitter-sweet outro of the album. A gentle but melacholic ending, like a cold dawn breaking.

“The Thundering Heard” is a dense and rich record; full of aural and textual interest. It’s a record that makes you think, makes you imagine. It very much brought Algernon Blackwood’s Weird Fiction tales The Wendigo and The Willows to my mind; tales of the wilderness and the things which walked there long before man ever did. All that said, “The Thundering Heard" is not some deep-thinking, post-something, soundtrack to an unmade movie. It’s a visceral, heavy, epic Riff Monster with horns of flame and hooves of stone. 

“The Thunder Heard”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

FOR THOSE ABOOT TO ROCK: Riffs of Canada with Greber [Cambridge, Ontario]

By: Mark Tremblay

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/02/2018

Label: Pink Lemonade Records (CD) |

Hibernation Release (CS) |

Ancient Temple Recordings  |

D7I Records | No Way Records (LP)

Greber’s pursuit of intricate heavy music pays off immensely, creating a consuming sonic experience. “Cemetery Preston” will be one of the most unique and layered experiences of this year.

“Cemetery Preston” CS//CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Backhanded Interest
2. The Wreckers
3. Prophetic
4. By Any Other Way
5. Overdraft
6. Our Burnt Treasures
7. Grave Plot
8. No One But You
9. The Closer We Got

The Review:

The sludge/grind two-piece Greber return with their new record “Cemetery Preston” and the long awaited follow up to “Kiln Hardened Psalms” showcases that the band has not lost any of its aggression with heavy music. Bassist Marc Bourgon’s tone has a chainsaw like quality to it. This tone, when mixed with drummer Steve Vargas’s unorthodox style of drumming, creates a consuming sonic experience not easily replicated.

This album flexes its efficiency through a variety of dynamics and stylistic elements; never relying on the same methods to get their point across. From the isolated bass tracks on “Prophetic” and “Overdraft”, to sequences where the drums carry the melody in “Grave Plot” and “Wreckers”, Greber have a variety of tools at their disposal. This keeps the listener engaged as the album goes through these continual peaks and valleys of emotion. It would be very easy for the band to become a plodding doom band, but have instead chosen a more nuanced approach regardless of the few elements at their disposal.

Greber’s pursuit of intricate heavy music pays off immensely. “Cemetery Preston” will be one of the most unique and layered experiences of this year.

“Cemetery Preston” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Nest - "Metempsychosis"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 03/03/2018

Label: Independent

The thick distortion-encrusted tones are riddled with a nasty evil buzz that brings to mind a union of Unearthly Trance and Unsane that sometimes veers into psychedelic realms worthy of Yob. “Metempsychosis” is an awesome offering from Nest that demonstrates their startling power and a terrifying amount of potential for the future.

“Metempsychosis” DD track listing:

1. - (00:31)
2. The Cowardice And Rashness Of Courage (03:52)
3. Gallows Of Forever (03:16)
4. Heretic (02:38)
5. Divining By The Entrails Of Sheep (05:06)
6. Jewel Of Iniquity (03:59)
7. From The Darkness In Me, Illuminate (04:09)
8. Life's Grief (09:50)
9. - (00:27)

The Review:

2018 is still only a few weeks old but Nest are already making a strong play for end of year lists with new LP “Metempsychosis”. The Kentucky duo make a huge spaced-out sludge racket delivered with an aggressive noise rock attitude that really hits hard here.

Although there are many two pieces throughout the heavy underground that create a massive sound from minimal resources, Nestmanage to construct a particularly impressive wall of noise from a single guitar, drums and vocals. I don’t know what set-up Kyle Keener is running his guitar through but it makes the crushing riffs that open up the likes of “The Cowardice And The Rashness Of Courage” and “Jewel oF Iniquity” register high on the Richter scale. The thick distortion-encrusted tones are riddled with a nasty evil buzz that brings to mind a union of Unearthly Tranceand Unsane that sometimes veers into psychedelic realms worthy of Yob.

“From The Darkness In Me, Illuminate” is a mini-epic that covers the full width of Nest’s sonic spectrum in four minutes. Pummelling blast beats and lumbering doom riffs emerge from a cloud of menacing noise that brings an air of black metal mystery to the track. The second half of the track shows that the band are equally as captivating when they dial back the distortion to craft a hypnotic passage from minimal guitar picking and distant violin. This works as suitable preparation for the monstrous finale of “Life’s Grief”. Nest take everything that has come before and blow it up on a grand scale. Huge reverb-laden melodies pave the way for one final punishing riff that can only be silenced by a rising tide of harsh static and sonic manipulations.

“Metempsychosis”is an awesome offering from Nest that demonstrates their startling power and a terrifying amount of potential for the future.

“Metempsychosis”is available to preorder here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Monte Luna - "Monte Luna"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Full-length

Date Released: 02/09/2017

Label: Indepedent

With a little bit of trimming, their debut would be a contender for breakout of the year.  As it stands, this should portend greatness for a duo as eclectic and skilled as any I’ve heard in 2017.

“Monte Luna” CD//DD//CS track listing

1). The Burning of Elohim

2). Nameless City

3). 6000 Year March

4). Nightmare Frontier

5). Inverted Mountain

6). The End of Beginning

The Review

               

This year has been an absolute banger when it’s come to excellent records.  With so much brutal filth to laud,  Owlcrusher, Belus, Shroud Eater, and Fisterall put out shatteringly exceptional releases. 

With a self-released, self-titled debut LP, Monte Luna throw their hat in the power duo ring and perform admirably, a psychedelic, spacey blast of eclectic stoner metal, Monte Luna goes all in with six tracks that range from blast beat fury to soulful blues riffage.

It’s tempting to think “The Burning of Elohim”, the shortest track (at nearly five minutes), is an introduction for the massive cuts that follow.  But it’s too full on its own to be a mere intro cut.  Clarke’s abrupt shifts between shriek and croon are almost disarming, but ultimately a real asset.  His dexterity in guitar styles serves as an guiding principle for Monte Luna, as Phil Hook can instantly lock into a bluesy, soulful swing or pummel through punishing blast beats.  On “Nameless City”, a thirteen minute doom jam centered around beefy riffing and Clarke’s grungey, bluesy vocal, Hook stands out with precise but loose meat and potatoes rock drumming that serves the doom fretwork, especially when guest guitarist Jon-Paul Girard goes for an extended wah-wah jaunt through pentatonic scales loaded with some vintage Blue Cheer fuzz.

               

The feedback-heavy martial tone of “6000 Year March” sounds like the music an orc would blast before heading into battle, complete with shrieking tri-tone riffs and a husky, yowling vocal delivery from Clarke.  The ambient outro, layered with samples of occult movie dialogue, feels a bit overlong, especially since the next track, “Nightmare Frontier”, is an abrupt departure.  Pushing his voice into soulful heights, Clarke almost sounds like Cedric Bixler-Zavala, albeit in a less falsetto register. The subdued bass and drum line, countered by a sinewy, sludgy riff, makes “Nightmare Frontier”an irresistible banger.  When the track culminates in an ascending guitar lead, there’s no doubt that this is the standout cut on the record.

               

If “Nightmare Frontier” is the catchiest cut, “Inverted Mountain” may be the absolute filthiest track.  Clarke pushes his vocals to shredded extremes, and the relentless feedback is molar rattling.  A downbeat midsection, seething with sonic manipulations courtesy of Hook, witnesses Clarke careening from forlorn wailing to sinister crooning, before launching into speed metal mania.  The end of this brutal sprint also highlights the one glaring issue of the record: the extended ambient codas.  When the following track, “The End of Beginning”, has its own mellow intro, the appended few minutes feel like a real drag.  Which is a shame considering the finale is a brutal assault on its own, vaulting from slow dirge to blast beat assault.  Clarke once again pushes his vocals to extremes, and his guitar ranges from ethereal to demonic.  That this stellar track has another outro – this time acoustic – only diminishes the transcendent, destructive finale.

               

When measured against the heft and might of the majority of this otherwise excellent debut, Monte Luna’ssonic noodlings are a bit nitpicky.  But the truth is that this stellar combo only obscures its own songwriting and performance chops.  The finale to “The End is Beginning” feels like the chaos and violence of Ragnarok itself… until they tack on a few extra bars and nature sounds.  With a little bit of trimming, their debut would be a contender for breakout of the year.  As it stands, this should portend greatness for a duo as eclectic and skilled as any I’ve heard in 2017.

“Monte Luna” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

INTERVIEW: "If Carlsberg did dynamic power doom duos, Monte Luna would probably be the best in the world"

By: Aaron Pickford

As I am sure some avid followers of THE SLUDGELORD can attest too, it is our mission to present the very best heavy music the underground scene has to offer and recently I commissioned Andrei Moose from our Russian chapter to painstakingly sift through the very best albums released via bandcamp and compile the best into a chart.   For me and I am sure many of you agree, if you’re not at least attempting to release your music via this musical platform then you’re fucking up and you ain’t in the game.

Now hitting the no 1 spot back in October, were a band previously unknown to me, but holy shit does THE SLUDGELORD most sincerely approve? Hailing from Austin, Texas Monte Luna deliver towering molten riffs, bucketloads of groove and hypnotic vocals, in fact this two piece are so fucking awesome, their self titled debut album  is one of the most captivating and downright fucking monstrous records I have heard this year.  Clocking in a hefty 71 minutes, “Monte Luna” never suffers from lag, never repeats itself and just as Alice peered through the looking glass, you have no idea just what a fantastical journey is ahead of you when you press play.

Now despite releasing the album back in September, “Monte Luna’s”official album release is this Saturday November 18^th, so with the band prepping for this show, I managed to hook with band members James Clarke (Guitar, Bass, Vocal) and Phil Hook (Drums, FX, Synth) to get the low down about the roots of the band, the recording of the new album and amongst other things how they managed to score one Chris Fielding, he of Conan to master their debut record.  So check it out below.  

Guys, welcome to THE SLUDGELORD, the new album rules, but before we get to that. Can you give us an insight into how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of Monte Luna?

James: I started playing music when I was around 18. For years up to then I had always enjoyed singing but playing had intimidated me. I tried drums when I was 11 and it was just too loud for my parent’s house so it deterred me. Eventually I started playing guitar because I really liked singing along with my friends who played music. My first band I was in was this terrible band I made with some friends in the Navy. We played a few shows in Virginia Beach and we sucked. After I got out of the Navy I went back up north and started a band called Chronoscope. That is where I really started to make some cool noise. I was much more serious about playing guitar and singing. I did that for about 3 years until I got a job in Buda Texas building Aquaponics systems and green houses. I really wanted to find an area that is accepting and much more into heavier music than the area I was in. Austin drew me in and I never looked back. Ha ha

I actually met Phil via craigslist. I posted an add asking for a drummer who was into Neurosis, the Melvins, Shrinebuilder and the likes and he was the first to respond! Who would have thought!

Phil: I taught myself to play drums in the early 90’s and was in a bunch of different bands in the Indianapolis metal scene.  Around 2009 I moved to Austin, TX and started doing a lot of drummer for hire work, recording and touring for many bands and artists. A couple years ago I was feeling burnt out and stagnant artistically and knew I had to play heavy music again. So I creeped craigslist looking for some people to jam with, typed “Neurosis” on the search and the rest is history. Haha!

For folks unfamiliar with your band, are there any bands on the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point to describe your band, and who or what continues to inspire you and push you to try new things?

James: For me I have always admired the work ethic of the Melvins. I look to them on how a band should perform and run a business. I have also learned a lot of band business knowledge from our friends in Destroyer of light.Both the Melvins and Destroyer of Lightput on phenomenal shows, and to me, it is all about keeping your audience engaged and hungry. As far as sound I really don’t have a specific point to reference. I like Matt Pikes tone but I didn’t really mold my tone to anyone. I just tried things until I felt it filled enough room. I’m influenced in general by bands like Eyehategod, Neurosis, The Melvins, The Beatles, Funkadelic, Black Sabbath and Rob Crow.

As far as who inspires us to try new things. I would say most of my peers in Austin and San Antonio. I love the bands we are playing with and coming up with and I could not be more thankful! Cursus for sure! And our friends in Spain, Ground.

Phil: My music influences are all over the place… I pull from Godflesh to Howlin Wolf to Sade. The whole creative process is what pushes me to try new things for sure. When I composed the instrumental segways at the end of “6000 Year March” and “Inverted Mountain”, I sampled multiple records on my turntables, added drones and synths.

What can you tell us about your new record “Monte Luna” and where do you feel it sits within the context of current metal scene?

James: The concept of the album revolves around a story I created based on this crazy universe that is loosely inspired by things such as H.P. Lovecraft, Bloodborne/Dark Souls, Kingdom Death Monster, Berserk, The Thing and Dungeons and Dragons (which I love by the way! I dungeon master! I’m a huge nerd).

 Let me just pull an excerpt from my lore here “Long ago in a distant time, unnatural pestilence consumed a world of peace. Father Arbitor has called upon the forces of the old ones to set this tranquil land a flame. After the burning of Elohim, a once great and powerful city, the people of the Nameless City are called upon as the only warriors brave enough to face Father Arbitor’s hellish army. Through their journey the warriors of the Nameless City will face perils the likes they have never seen. A 6000 year march across arid, decaying, plague lands. Climbing the impossible, the Inverted Mountain, reaching the Nightmare Frontier and facing the end. The orb of power glowing green with madness. What will end the cycle? Is the orb the true evil? Or does evil lie within?”. And yes the “Hound” EP does tie into the full length.

It sets in motion the events as the hooded warriors kill father Arbitors faithful dog, thus starting the war leading up to the burning of Elohim. For those wondering, yes we sampled Bloodborne on 6,000 year march! I love that game!! Where does it sit? To be honest I don’t know, we aren’t really trying to be just one genre. We both love so much music we couldn’t say, but it’s certainly heavy meditative music. We want you to turn it up, smoke it up and feel the sound. Like you would live.

Does anything spring to mind when you think about the completion of your new record and how is the mood in the camp at present?

James: I think I’m just glad to be done with it and I am ready to move forward as a band. The concept of the album was a long and difficult process. We tried to capture as much live magic as possible on the recording because we feel that to experience us fully is to see us live. For the mood band wise I know I’m loving it. We just played some awesome shows in Indianapolis and I got to meet some of the guys in Coffinwormand Gates of Slumber so that was an awesome fan boy moment!!

We have received a lot of positive feedback for our album and we beyond humbled at the reception. I think that Austin has a phenomenal group of musicians that I am proud to call my brothers and sisters. We are all doing so much right now and trying to grow this into something for all of us. It just takes time, but it is a wonderful time to be playing heavy music in ATX and the surrounding area. The Lost Well is our home away from home and we are thankful for it.

Phil: We’ve always respected what each of us brings to the table as artists and humans and I don’t see that changing anytime soon….no matter what life shit happens.

What stands out as your overarching memory from the recording sessions?

James: I think what stands out most for me was how amazing the environment was. We recorded at Tommy Munter’s studio in San Antonio (Matador studios). He is a good friend of Phils and an excellent musician. We did 3 days in the studio and crushed it. I think the moment I knew we were doing something right was that within the first day, at like 6 p.m. the cops came and told us we had to turn down. I almost lost my shit! I couldn’t believe it was really happening, and it just happened to be the night of a crazy storm. My mind was racing and I was thinking well that’s that, were screwed. But the next day we woke up early, moved the bass cab into the bathroom and ripped that puppy a new one.

We recorded all the instrumentation in about a day and a half. Also, what really stood out was how receptive Chris Fielding was to mastering the album! And for him to say he loves the vocals made me swoon! Haha! I run a Matamp GT2 into a Worshiper 4x12and ABY it with a GK 1001 RB into a Worshiper 2x15. I was happy to lay that down as we would live. Phil and I were able to be in the same room while recording so it allowed us to capture the energy we have. We did very little overdubbing.

Phil: The album opener, “Burning of Elohim” had a pretty cool moment in the studio. James and I tracked the album in the room together as we would for our live show and I have a pretty big drum configuration…Ludwig maples, 26 inch kick, 14, 16, 18 toms and a 14x8 steel snare. On the opening tom pattern I’m just beating the living shit out of my floor toms and the air pushing off the drums carried into James guitar pick-ups and created this cool guitar part. We didn’t even realize what happened until playback and James was like, “what the hell guitar part is that”? Of course we kept that magic on the album!

With you new record in the bag, how is your schedule shaping up over the next 12 months?

James: We are planning a 2 week, potentially 3 week tour in April/may (East Coast) and a smaller run with some friends overseas (They want to come here though, we will be in EU asap!) We are going to book a week for the studio this time and that should be right after we come off our 2 week tour. We want the album to really crush, keep some elements of what makes us Monte Luna but always evolve the sound forward and have fun with it! If we aren’t having fun we aren’t a band. We played a great show with Omotai and it felt great to be back home! We hadn’t played TX since June. Our album release shows are coming up on Saturday and we are doing a few dates in December with our friends in Forming the Void!

This year is going to wrap up nicely into a hectic but fun new year. Lets get to Europe sooner rather than later shall we?

Finally, do you have any last words?

James: I’d just like to say that we aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. More so, trying to invent an interdimensional space ship.

Phil: I’m going to borrow a quote from my friend Karl Simon (Wretch, Gates of Slumber)…the music’s not too slow, you’re listening too fast. 

The End

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

RIFF REWIND (07/09/2013): Jucifer - за волгой для нас земли нет

Bio: 

Founded in 1993, Jucifer pioneered the sludge / doom metal duo. The band has performed steadily and released albums throughout the 90's and 00's on both major and indie labels as well as founding their own Nomadic Fortresslabel.   
 
Jucifer has expressed distaste for conforming to a genre but has invented names to describe their blend of styles including "deathdrone" "blackcrust" and "grindgaze". Their live sound has been compared to Celtic Frost, Melvins, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Necrophagia and Napalm Death, as well as bands of their own generation (Jesus Lizard, Darkthrone, Neurosis, Morbid Angel, Harvey Milk, Electric Wizard, Eyehategod, Acid King) and younger groups Lightning Bolt and Sunn 0))).
 

On July 17, 2013 Jucifer's eighth studio album ' за волгой для нас земли нет ' was released and today we’re rewinding back 4 years, with our original review of this album. So if you have overlooked this band/album, be sure to remedy your error by checking out our review and the record is streaming in full below

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/7/2013 (CD) |

17/10/2013 (Vinyl)

Label : Mutants Of The Monster |

Nomadic Empire

Repetition is key to achieving the forlorn atmosphere. One can feel each heavily distorted riff’s texture with the help of a good pair of headphones, and the end result is a crushing assortment of grinding grooves found exclusively in sludgey music

“за волгой для нас земли нет” CD//DD//LP  track listing: 

01 - The Land Speaks
02 - Песнь просыпающегося города -- Song Of The Waking City
03 - ЛОЖЬ ВО СПАСЕНИЕ -- White Lie
04 - Боритесь, чтобы жить свободно -- Fight Hard Live Free
05 - Ни шагу назад! -- Not A Step Back
06 - Дом Павлова -- Pavlov's House
07 - ПОЗОР -- Shame
08 - Сибирь -- Siberia
09 - Волк (Скорбящая мать) -- Wolf (Grieving Mother)
10 - Эволюция I- Кочевники -- Evolution I- Nomads
11 - Эволюция II- Родина-мать зовет! -- Evolution II- Soviet Motherland Calls
12 - заградительные отряды -- Barrier Troops
13 - Новая могила -- The New Grave
14 - Королева - оленьи рожки -- Queen Of Antlers
15 - Patriotic Song
16 - эпилог – Epilogue

The Review: 

Unlike other Jucifer records, the band’s latest release—with a title entirely in Russian—pushes boundaries in terms of theme. While previous albums held more conventional subject matter and music, the two-piece’s latest album crushes like Stalinism and Russia’s iron first long banished to the depths of history’s gloomy past; the Soviet era. It’s admittedly as weird as it sounds, but it works out well, appearing much denser than other sludge efforts, with songs that trudge along for nearly 10 minutes.

Repetition is key to achieving the forlorn atmosphere. One can feel each heavily distorted riff’s texture with the help of a good pair of headphones, and the end result is a crushing assortment of grinding grooves found exclusively in sludgey music. Likewise, the drumming is as minimalistic as can be and avoids any technical witchcraft as it devastatingly accents each guitar part. Without this brilliant teamwork—only possible in a two-piece like Jucifer—the release wouldn’t be half as strong as it is. The little details truly make a difference.

Attention to detail makes a compelling case for the record as a whole, too. “Evolution I: Nomads” is easily the highlight of the track listing with the bleakest atmosphere the album offers—the other songs don’t even come close. In comparison, the remainder of the release feels tame in its approach to the Soviet Union’s despondency, but still manages to sonically capture the collective mindset at the time.

Even so, a small portion of the record is decidedly more uplifting, the song in question being “The New Grave.” The track seems to promise positivity with a rhythmic groove, and its position near the end of the album suggests a resolution to the issues at hand, a clever move on Jucifer’s part. Shrouded in mystery, the message is left open to interpretation and acts as yet another reason to keep revisiting the music.

In the end, though, Jucifer’s latest release is a coherent product, flowing 78 minutes without any quips. The cover art is spot on. The music hits home for sludge and doom fans. And the theme is wonderfully fresh. Recommended in every sense of the word.

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