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Released on March 25, 2016 via Rise Above Records
Rise Above Records is one of those labels, where it doesn’t matter who or what they release, I make sure I will listen to it. Run by Lee Dorian (of Cathedral, With The Dead and, a long time ago, Napalm Death fame), Rise Above Records has a history of releasing doom, sludge and occult rock and metal releases that have been hugely influential and on the forefront of what was to come in these musical subgenres.
However, lately the label has been releasing great records, though perhaps not particularly groundbreaking or innovative, but just good bangers regardless. Uncle Acid’s releases for example are great, but nothing that new or innovative and With The Dead’s self-titled release last year is a great, heavy slab of doom, but again, things we’ve heard before with the older Electric Wizard for example.
But does this really matter? For some people it does, as they always seem to be on the lookout for those innovative, genre-moving bands and releases. But sometimes you just want a great record you can thoroughly enjoy and appreciate for what it is.
Beastmaker’s full-length debut Lusus Naturae is such a record, which is great and really enjoyable, but it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table. But this is a fine example of a release where that doesn’t matter, as it’s simply a damn good rocking record. The press release mentions the influences of Witchfinder General, Pentagram and Black Sabbath and it is the latter that I get reminded of the most while listening to Lusus Naturea (which stands for Freak of Nature), but this isn’t a simple Sabbath clone as so many other bands seem to sound like these days.
Beastmaker managed to channel that old heavy metal inspired doom in their music, thereby hitting good levels of occult rock as well, combining it all with old horror movies inspired lyrics. The starting “classic” tones of church bells ringing at the opening of the album and first track ‘Clouds In The Sky’, rise the occult levels instantly, and once the riffs kick in it sets things off rather nicely. These riffs in particular are thick throughout the 12 tracks, and the drums are hit hard, with a lot of slow, Bohman-like groove. The bass seems to slap away sometimes, you can really feel the strings being pulled heavily.
Yes, singer, guitarist and mastermind behind the band Trevor William Church sounds a lot like Ozzy during his Sabbath years. Not as much as much as Monolith’s Ralf Brummerloh, who really sounds like a blatant Ozzy copy, but Trevor uses a very similar singing style and technique as Ozzy’s, which for some might be a bad thing, however I really don’t mind it and I think it works rather addictive actually.
What makes Lusus Naturea a stand out Rise Above release is the damn fine catchiness, the heavy riffing and its hefty production. Whereas these type of records are sometimes a bit under-produced, probably to give them that 70s vibe, Lusus Naturea has a lot of meat on its body and it’s especially John Tucker’s heavy bass sound that really gives it this oomph factor.
I was a bit disappointed with Uncle Acid’s latest release, The Night Creeper, as I think it misses a bit in both the production and song writing, but fans of occult doom rock, like myself, can happily throw some cash to Beastmaker and get Lusus Naturea in your collection, as you’ll find yourself coming back to this release time and time again.
