Pyrithion is the death metal brain child of As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis. Owning ones own (three words in a row with “o”. really Ryan?) studio and having some free time can lead to expeditions like this. Guitarists Ryan Glisan from Allegaeon and Andy Godwin of Embodyment were called up and then began trading ideas. What we have now is a three song single, a taste of what’s to come. And it makes me somewhat hungry…

'The Invention Of Hatred' is the opener. Straight blasts, shred and heavier vocals than we’re used to hearing from Tim open this bastard-maker of a tune after a minor build up. It’s nice to hear his rougher vocals, as I enjoy them a bit more than his normal screams. Ryan and Andy are beyond competent guitarists, and whoever got to do the solo on this track had a great time with it.

'Bleed Out' fires the cannons for nearly three minutes straight. Barely a spot to catch your breath here. The rhythm guitars are great, but the solo is a little too quick. Not much time to make an impact, but I imagine that was the idea. In. Out. Done.

Finally we have 'Resting In The Arms Of A Paralyzed Beast'. I honestly have sat trying to figure out what that means for awhile now. But the sheer speed and intensity of this song could have any name strapped to it and I would give it a listen. Dual guitar solo in the mix is amazing, then a slow bridge section for a little mid-pace chug and tumble. It’s a nice slow down, and the band should utilize it a bit on the full-length album that is in the works. Medium pace guitars placed on top of insane tempo drums sounds pretty good when done right, and these boys get a golden star for their work.

So, three songs to simmer on while awaiting a full-length album. Three modern death metal tunes done well, and done right. I see no reason you shouldn’t pick this up when Metal Blade Records lets it loose on April 16th. After that, stay hungry my friends, more is on the way!!!

HAIL!!!

Originally released in 2007 on Siege of Amida Records, The Somatic Defilement helped rush in the "deathcore" movement. Full disclosure: I don't like "deathcore". Hate it. That said, Whitechapel are the top of that genre and have moved on to a more death metal oriented sound. I've always had a soft spot for them, don't know why, don't ask myself why either. As I've stated in other reviews, I am a music fan first, then a death metal fan. And if it catches me, then so be it.

So a reissue of an album that's only six years old seems like a cash in on paper. Something to fulfil a contract, maybe band members need more money for guitar strings and black shirts. I don't know. I will, however endorse this reissue. Complete with a remix/remaster from Mark Lewis (Devil Driver, The Black Dahlia Murder, Daath, etc) these songs hit with so much more punch than before. I even did the side by side test, and the difference is night and day.

From the drum roll intro of the title track, to the screaming guitar intro of 'Fairy Fay', the time and money spent on this was worth it. 'Alone In the Morgue' shines much louder and more clear in the guitar department, highlighting the three guitar lineup. Bends and twists that weren't noticeable in the original really shine through. That goes for all the instruments really, as well as Phil Bozeman's vocals. And I can't forget Mr. Ben Savage's oddball riffs.

I personally can understand all the hatred a band like Whitechapel gets. They took hardcore and death metal and put it in a blender. Death metal purists cried and still cry, foul. For me personally, I'll bite the bullet and say I enjoy Whitechapel on a public medium. They were another band that opened my eyes to the death metal underground. And I still listen to the to this day and will probably continue to. I'm a fan of heavy music and always will be. There's too much hatred in a genre, that was meant for misfits in the first place, to discriminate and say was is or is not acceptable.

Whitechapel took a chance and are innovative in their own right. And this reissue highlights their original idea and makes it sound as it was meant to. Major props to Metal Blade, Whitechapel and Mark Lewis, who I hear slaved over this for awhile, for making this available to fans again, the way it was meant to be heard.

Pick up 'The Somatic Defilement' reissue via Metal Blade on April 16th. If you already own it, I say its worth grabbing this reissue, and i don't fancy reissues much. HAIL!!!

Solo projects can be good or they can be bad. Such is heavy metal. But, there is a gray area. Dead Mountain Mouth is the solo project of A Very Old Ghost Behind The Farm's Lundi Galilao. Being his solo project it finds him playing all instruments, writing all the music, singing everything and bringing it all together, on his own. It can be a lot if pressure to do such a thing. Crystalline is his third excursion under the Dead Mountain Mouth moniker, and it has some surprising results.

Title track opener mixes scream and shout vocals with heavy, but spacey, guitars before breaking into the more extreme end on the second half of the song. Around the seven minute mark, it's a long opener. Good indeed, but I feel that a minute or two could have been shaved off for a stronger impact. 'Lying In Outer Space' has many characteristics of the opening track but with more psychedelic moments mixed in. Trippy vocals and guitar effects if you will. At times it even seems to invoke sounds of The Ocean. That's a compliment, its a great sound.

Later songs on the album stick with being experimental in nature. 'Among The Stones' being one worth note. It starts as a rather good, calm song. Eventually breaks into a nice crunchy guitar tone, then later on goes almost black metal with the drumming and savageness. Closing track 'Ignite' is a building song that starts spacey, goes into a nice heavy section, then goes absolutely insane and manic. All while building an epic tone throughout. A paranoia growing and growing until the guitars stop and all you hear is static.

Dead Mountain Mouth have put out a pretty good album with Crystalline. The only gripe I have being that a few songs could be shortened for a stronger impact. But this is only a minor complaint as the album as a whole, is well written, played and produced.

You can grab Crystalline through Dead Mountain Mouth's Bandcamp page, and while you're there you can grab the previous album Loka, which is good as well. Support the bands and artist you love. Go grab this album. HAIL!!!!!

Writing an album review without sounding redundant can be hard. I can only sit here and tell you how much I like certain part of a song. How vocals sound shot out of cannon. How guitars rip your face off. You get the idea. So…..lets just try things a little different.

The Moth Gatherer consists of two gentlemen from Sweden, Alex Stjernfeldt and Victor Wegeborn. As I’ve stated before in my Norse review, I like duo bands. Two people just in sync with one another, feeding off each others ideas and emotions, I love it. This being their first album, although the songs were fleshed out over a few year span when time was permitting, is a great debut. An album alone any artists would be proud of, but to be a debut, even better. I actually had a chance to speak with one of these fine gentlemen on Twitter (who, I’m not sure, I didn’t ask) and he explained to me his goals of the album. The Moth Gatherer aim to move you with emotions, powerful emotions of loss, death and life. They want you to lay in the dark and absorb this album, let it take you away. So I did what the artist literally told me. We’ve been here before. Bare with me, I tell you what I felt, not what I heard.

“The mushroom cloud was before me. I had my shoes laced tight. My belt tighter. Donned in black. Ready and willing to walk toward my ending. And my beginning. Silver box in hand, I started forward. All my memories of defeat sadness anger resentment poverty loneliness unrequited love cheating cheated disappointing faces screaming cold floors cold knives pills bottles of pills sweet smells gone sour tears on her face my pride being nonexistent my lost days piles of pills jealousy mistrust. You’ve taken my whole life. I’ve no word to say as I walk to the cloud. It spins and swirls. The end waiting to just devour me from its blast of black skies and horrid mist. I press on. My fingers cold from the clutch of what will be my savior. I press on further. My bones ache. My heart races. The pain severe. But for the sake of all life and time I continue. I’m here. Face to face with the cloud. Its tall walls and rounded out top. The box I place in my hand. I press the top and four flaps open. Without a blink or beat I throw my last chance of life into this beast. The swirl is vicious. Lightning cracks and strikes all around. It knows its fate and mine. I’ve feared all until this moment. This ominous figure slowly being devoured into a box of silver. Without memories I am nothing. But these are the fears I no longer will to remember. The cloud screams hisses lashes out as I stand still. Swirling into a box no bigger than a human heart. The fears are nothing. The cloud is gone. The sky is clear. The box now closed and sitting in a pile of windswept dirt. I dig. I dig for hours with my hands. I dig a hole further than six feet. I place the box square and center in the hole. I fill it back in with all I have left. I pull out a map. I mark the place where this cloud once stood and the hole once was. I pull out a cigarette and inhale the smoke. I set the map on fire and walk away. I shall always know where my demons rest. And I can revisit them if I wish. For now I’m headed the other way. Towards the sun, I light another cigarette and make my way home.”

Some albums you hear and drive your body wild. Some albums you put on as background music during dinner with your wife. Some albums you pop in on road trips. And some you absorb to take you somewhere else, weather that be good or bad it makes no difference. Sometimes you just want to feel anything. Luckily for us, The Moth Gatherer have put out an album that can and has done just that. With harrowing vocals, heartbreaking musical movements and pure heartfelt emotion. And I tip my hat to them for making such a beautiful, powerful, moving album.

A Bright Celestial Light comes out on April 16th (April 30th in the US) via Agonia Records. Be sure to pick this album up, support honest artists you love and enjoy.

HAIL!

As many metalheads before me have and as many after me will do, I discovered Opeth pretty early on in my exploration of the metal genre. It wasn’t exactly difficult; I was obsessing over the likes of Soilwork and Testament just as Ghost Reveries was coming out, so I decided to pick up it and Deliverance (gotta explore the back catalog too, right?), and they quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time, a spot they occupy to this day. In particular, it was Mikael Akerfeldt’s unique ear for melody – inspired as much by Camel and Comus as it is by Celtic Frost – that sucked me in.

To date, every other band I have heard that has tried to replicate Opeth melodies has failed spectacularly. Plenty of bands have taken the extreme-metal-mixed-with-proggy-structures approach and succeeded with it – Cormorant and Ludicra stick out in my mind – but the ones that do always aim for different sonic territory. Bands that try to sound like Opeth always seem to end up missing something, and unfortunately, that is where Man Made Origin’s debut full-length False Consciousness has ended up.

Now, to be fair, False Consciousness doesn’t try to be a blatant Blackwater Park knockoff. Among the band’s listed influences, there are audible elements of Deathspell Omega in the more dissonant riffs, and some of the more ambient sections bear a Cult of Luna tinge. However, it is very, very obvious that the primary influence here is Opeth, and the total package comes across as Opeth-but-not-quite-Opeth. Lead vocalist Max Taylor even puts on his best Mikael Akerfeldt impression at times, most noticeably in his clean vocals, and does a pretty good job of it as well. It is the rest of the writing that doesn’t live up.

The riffs on False Consciousness just aren’t as good as genuine Opeth riffs, and there isn’t enough musically to differentiate them from Opeth riffs to justify it. If they could pull off something as moving as an “Isolation Years” or as badass as a “Demon of the Fall”, it’d be one thing. But trying to write riffs like Mikael Akerfeldt when you aren’t Mikael Akerfeldt just doesn’t work. The recipe for success in this genre is to use Opeth as inspiration for the structures of your songs while your other influences shine through more musically, which Man Made Origin haven’t done. The end result, while not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just leaves you wondering why you aren’t listening to the real Opeth. The sound and the chops are there, but the magic is missing.

If you want a fix of extreme prog metal, then False Consciousness will give you that. There is a lot of potential here if Man Made Origin can develop a unique musical identity, and I hope to see them reach it.

Monday Superblues is the debut album from the Heavy Groove, Stoner, Sluge, Dutch quartet  S.I.M.B.  They formed in Amsterdam in 2008 and is the coming together of members from other underground bands. Their line-up is Gantcho 'Babbata' Kojuharov on vocals, Svetoslav 'Sven' Georgiev on guitar and back up vocals, Deyan 'Chico' Monev on drums and Nikolay 'Hubi' Hubenov on bass.

There are a few special guests on this album one being Matt lynch, who done the graphic design of the CD, with the cover artwork being created by Gino Angelov from Diamond Jack Tattoo Parlour, London. I have a feeling that the lady in the spider web might be a Demon Lover.

If you are going to call your band Satan is my Bitch (S.I.M.B.) then you better be good and they are. The music is heavy, with a solid rock sound and if you play it loud then Monday Superblues will keep you speakers working to their max.

The album starts with a split 55 second classic Sabbath sounding guitar intro with what sounds like the stone entrance to a crypt being opened. That I like! Then it breaks into 'Monday'. This track sets the tempo for the rest of the album.

"Oh yeah feels good, real good." This is the opening line to 'Demon Lover', one of the best songs on Monday Superblues. Gripping guitar riff and lyrics that say it all. It really does feel good.

'So Heavy so Slow', is exactly what it says. 'Alive', 'Mind of God' & 'If You Just Try', fill the album up nicely but in between these tracks is the track 'Satan Is My Bitch'. This is the track that brings this whole album together. Bass, drums, guitar and vocals all working in harmony, with lyrics that will be sung by the crowd at all the live gigs.

S.I.M.B. have done well for a Debut album. I would like to think they will be around for quite a few years to come. I hope that Babbata's singing will become just a little bit more gritty in that time but i wouldn't want to loose the energy that he puts into each song.

This is a very well produced debut album that you will play at lot.

Suffocation. 25 years (with a break or two in there). 7 albums. 2 EPs. Now that might not seem like a lot, but in those 25 years, Suffocation have influenced tons of bands, whether those bands be good or not is a null argument. You don't write 7 albums of pure ass-kicking-slamming-death-fucking-metal without knowing a thing or two. Many thought the exit of original band member/founder/drummer would mean a change. A possible uncertain future. Well, no one told Suffocation that.

Opening with 'Cycles of Suffering' it's apparent that any naysayers can shut their mouths. Guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Guy Marchais are locked tight with complicated rhythms that are still easy enough to bang your head to. Derek Boyer's bass is audible and deep through the entire album. Newcomer drummer Dave Culross (who did a 2 year stint in the band before) plays complicated yet grooving beats. The guy is a perfect replacement. And Mr.Banter Between Songs himself Frank Mullen is the same Frank you expect. Growls of a demon coming from his throat that wants to take control. Same Suffocation you know and love. Only better.

Next track 'Purgatorial Punishment' is all chug and groove, leading to a devil summoning solo that would make your mother cry. Lead "single" 'As Grace Descends' is a an upbeat blast with awesome hooks. Good music has hooks. And this song is a butcher shop. And, you guessed it, another glorious solo mixed in. The trick to Suffocation's craft is that they never sacrifice the songs for technicality. Sure, the songs may be all over the musical chart. But they keep the GROOVE.

Closing track 'Beginning of Sorrow'....forget about it. The concept of this album is the aftermath of the end of the world, and you have your soundtrack to survival; keeping you ready to scratch and crawl your way to the end.

Plain and simple, Suffocation have delivered their best album yet. They've become amazing musician and songwriters over the years, and know how to mix the two together. Representing Long Island New York. HAIL & RESPECT!!!!!!

Be sure to puck up Pinnacle of Bedlam, available now through Nuclear Blast. And also go see Suffocation live in the US through April, and May and June in Europe

You know those moments when you’re in a rush to get somewhere on time? Or you know you have a minute to get to your bus stop to catch your bus to work but you still have to put your shoes on and brush your teeth? Or you’re in the gym working out and trying to beat your personal best on the 5km? Whatever you do, don’t listen to this split from Cough and Windhand, as the 3 tracks provided on Reflection of the Negative are the pinnacle of DOOM and they won't make you go any faster.

Both Cough and Windhand hail from Richmond, Virginia and both are doom metal uberlords. According to the Relapse Records website that released this split effort it is “premier doom at its absolute gloomiest”, and I couldn’t agree more.

First track is by Cough and ‘Athame’ is a 18 minutes and 31 seconds long down-tuned doom epos. One cliché you always find back in doom metal reviews is that every riff sounds like Tony Iommi himself provided them, but I can’t help myself by drawing that comparison when I listen to this monster of a track. Slow drums kick off a long musical journey including Hammond-sounding organs, vocal samples and thick-as-fuck-heavy-fuzzing guitar riffs. Have I mentioned already this is a very sloooow track? It is. It’s brilliant. When singer Parker Chandler starts his vocal parts it sounds like he’s just spewing out his guts while trying to squeeze in his lyrics through the piles of vomit. It’s gloom, it’s doom and it doesn’t get any better than this.

The other band Windhand provide 2 tracks to this split release, ‘Amaranth’ and ‘Shepherd’s Crook’, and they sound a bit more upbeat than Cough, though still very doom. ‘Amaranth’ kicks off with a bit more sludge in it, which is a nice addition to all the slow doom bits. Vocalist Dorthia Cottrell sounds eerie and spooky, as her high and pure voice tries to break a way through the huge wall of down-tuned bass and guitar, giving the impression she’s trying to summon the demons straight from hell.  The guitars bring in more melody towards the end of this 7,5 minutes long track, which is very welcoming.

Windhand’s second track ‘Shepherd’s Crook’ instantly brings back those Iommi and Sabbath comparisons. It’s a very similar guitar sound to what Iommi used to sound like on those early Sabbath records. A little bit longer (nearly 11 minutes) than the other track, Windhand provides another down-tuned sounding doom/sludge track, with mysteriously sounding keyboard effects fading in and out of the mix. The solo-ing guitar parts in the second half of the song bring similarly to ‘Amaranth’ more melody in the mix.  It tends to sound a bit repetitive towards the end though, even though this is a characteristic trait of the doom metal genre.

Of this split release the Cough track has my preference, but Windhand’s 2 tracks are definitely of high quality as well. It’s just hard when you have a huge 18 minutes long mountain to top in front of you. But if you like your music doom and gloom, you should definitely get Reflection of the Negative as it’s a well-produced high quality release. Just make sure you’ll sit down comfortably somewhere, holding a nice drink and with some lighted candles around you when you listen to this.

Anciients seemingly have burst from out of nowhere to deliver one of the most impressive debut albums in recent years. It would seem that way but the truth is Anciients have been working and gigging tirelessly perfecting their sound before unleashing it on the unsuspecting public.

Formed in Vancouver, their line up is Chris Dyck – guitar/vocals, Kenneth Paul Cook – guitar/vocals, Aaron “Boon” Gustafson – bass, Mike Hannay – drums.

Heart of Oak is a knockout opening move from the band, impressively executed. I've already seen comparisons made to behemoths Mastodon and Baroness. While this is relevant Anciients have plenty more than re-hashing others' work to offer. They have a harsh death metal edge to the vocals at times and tracks combine elements of huge riffs and melodies with more crushing heavier moments.

It’s an undeniable sound and fans of the two previously mentioned bands will be drooling at what's on offer here, while appealing to a broad range of fans as well. Anciients talents extend to the craft in their song writing. 'Overthrone' is the first to lodge in the memory with its glorious riffs and infectious vocals. Combing powerful drumming with Thin Lizzy inspired riffs, while sounding like the musical equivalent of Game of Thrones. At this point (it’s the second song), I was sold on what Heart of Oak is about. 'The Longest River' is a near ten minute epic, with rhythm building then spiralling, the guitar tone here is amazing and sick sounding. With riffs and melodies intensifying it has a classic rock feel about it and it is one of the many highlights on Heart of Oak. 'Raise the Sun', which opens the album is a perfect example of Anciients' sound combining all the elements together for maximum effect.

Anciients also remind me of Opeth, maybe not in direct musical style, more in how they shift from the heavier almost death metal sound to glorious classic/sludge metal effortlessly during tracks. It’s an impressive achievement that belies their relative early stage. I've highlighted a couple of songs already but truth is everything here is of highest quality. Even last track 'For Lisa' is a heartfelt blues workout, instrumental and delivered with a progressive edge.

Heart of Oak despite its variation of styles is all natural feeling and highly impressive. They sound like they've spent two or three albums hammering out and perfecting this sound. For that not to be the case is truly impressive and an indication I think we'll be hearing lots more of Anciients for years to come.

I can’t recall how or when The Black Angels came to my attention. Maybe it was their hometown of Austin, Texas that alerted me to them, being a big fan of fellow townsfolk …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and Explosions In The Sky. Their debut album Passover was my first encounter and what lies therein must have floated my boat, because I later acquired Directions To See A Ghost and last album Phosphene Dream.

New album Indigo Meadow took me by surprise when I listened at first, mostly because I listened to their other albums approximately twice. In the interests of fair review I am obviously giving this one more considered airplay. But it’s not an easy mission because The Black Angels tread a very thick water, if you’re not prepared to tackle those waters, you may drown in the drone of their 60s retro organ sound.

I’m conscientious of my line of critique for this album, I suspect fans of The Black Angels buy totally into their philosophy, which I must admit, I wasn’t aware of until I read the Press for the new long player. I suspect they mean it, man.

Having said that, Indigo Meadow starts out as a dazzling heady record that sounds like it could have been created almost 50 years ago. The production really hits the spot authentically reliving analogue organ sounds and the creepy vocal tones of bands from the psychedelic era. Oh, and Clinic. And Thee Hypnotics. And The Warlocks. There was a time when those (modern) bands featured heavily in my (pre-iPod) playlists, I think I must have read a review in the NME that suggested The Black Angels would be worthy of my time.

Opening/Title track ‘Indigo Meadow’ leaps out of the speakers at you, a fierce rallying call, all swirling riffs, droning organ and menacing intonations from vocalist Alex Maas. Short and sharp, impressive with its drive and urge to draw you in. Things sound good at this point. With second track ‘Evil Things’, backed by thunderous Zeppelinesque drums, sinewy grooving bass and featuring one of the greatest yelps ever committed to vinyl, this is shaping up to be a tremendous album. I’m thinking I need to revisit those previous albums soon. Lead track ‘Don’t Play With Guns’ keeps the momentum going, a splurge of riotous organ-led punk and machine gun drumming, simpler in execution, but no less enjoyable. Things darken down somewhat with the eerie 'Holland', resplendent with sinister vocal delivery, haunted house organ and wandering guitar lines.

Then Indigo Meadow’s finer moments bid us farewell and we enter into a territory that can only be labelled as pastiche psychedelia. Poor tribute bands of early era Status Quo and The Doors shamble into view and the incessant drone of that bloody organ begins to grate. Maas’ vocals start to etch agony into your eardrums and you yearn for something to pluck you from the quagmire of the retro swamp.

Had the track listing on this album spread the better moments through the filler I might have been more pleased with the end result. As I said, I can’t quite recall when my interest in The Black Angels started, but I do know when it ended.

If you are looking for an album to lay down and relax by, then umber is going to provide a great solution for all of us.

Umber is the solo project of Alex Steward, a song writer from Nottingham. Since he started his umber project he released two EPs: Morning's Pass and the latest one, Earth Feet, Lifted, released last November 2011. Sunshine Young is the title of his new EP and is going to be released next April 5th by post-rock label Oxide Tones. The seven tracks of the EP have a unique aim: they are all designed to relax the listener

Sunshine Young is an album full of wonderful soundscapes in which ambient, electronic, post-rock and neo-classical sounds are perfectly mixed.

'Sunshine Young' is also the name of the first track and it works perfectly as intro to the melodies that govern the entire album. It’s a joyful and inspiring song that softly leads the listener to 'All the Ships', the second track of the album, that could be the soundtrack to a trip in a woodland thanks to the complicity of owl calls. The song begins softly before introducing a calming and guiding beat with a sort of incantation first from a piano and then from gentle percussions. There is no feeling of desire here for what is impossible or for what is unattainable; there’s only a predominant idyllic state of belonging.

In a more focused state Sunshine Young goes deeper into the tranquility offered by 'The Warm Calm', a song designed to dream away and far away, comparable to the gentle atmospheres created by Hammock.

'Sunshine Youth' is the point where the album reaches the peak of the utopia realization in the listener mind. This track is featured by Tom Honey, aka Good Weather For An Airstrike, and has elegant melody and a strong sense of emotional response. It works like a meditation session and it’s my personal favorite from this EP together with 'All the Ships'.

Sunshine Young is a dreaming album that set listener mind at rest.

Sit back then and enjoy the travel!

There seems to be a colossal army of post metal bands releasing stuff in early 2013, so for one to stand out they better be different. Birmingham’s io do just that, they take a softer and experimental approach and is a refreshing little listen. The opening track ‘The Lost Cosmonaut’ has a very strong intro, sounds like Russian Circles, which will always put a smile on the face of anyone with taste. The vocals kick in and everything becomes punky and heavy, not a million miles away from At the Drive In. Fortunately this constant mixture of styles is the blueprint to Our Disintegrating Museum.

There’s ambition in abundance. Multiple layers that are seamlessly exposed by a band that comes across as a well-oiled machine. One moment you are listening to heavy punk with sludge like vocals and the next dreamy post-rock and not just for the sake of it, most of it seems to fit very well. There is a gang vocals part, which I find a little cheesy and off putting but it seems to be trendy right now and people are diggin it.

‘Cisco Kid’ goes from doom-like riffs, into vibrant math metal that would make Between the Buried and Me proud! There’s even a few groovy beats which kind of make you want to get up and dance, this record always keeps you guessing.

Having said all this, sadly the album can come across as a little boring at times. ‘Vultures of the Arctic’, which takes up a whopping 8.5 minutes right in middle comes across as a little indie and twee. This is where their determination to do something different is maybe to their detriment. Slightly dull moments like this can be found from time to time throughout the whole thing. However, by the time you finish the last track ‘Voyage of the Alecton’ you realise you have been on quite some ride which is encapsulated by the powerful yet emotive final chorus and the closing 20 seconds which features nothing more than an earth shattering riff! Nice.

“I’m not on some grandiose trip; I’m fine with little sips”

So sings Mark Arm on ‘I Like It Small’, the second track on Mudhoney’s latest (ninth) studio album. Perhaps such a sentiment explains rather well the continuing appeal of a band that, despite a wilful commitment to their traditional sound, remains a perennial favourite of devotees of underground American rock. Unlike their contemporaries in Pearl Jam or Nirvana, Mudhoney never really made it all the way to the big time, but that hasn’t stopped them acquiring a legacy that has made them synonymous with grunge. Classic records like ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge’ and ‘My Brother the Cow’ are essential additions to the collection of anyone who claims the nineties as their preferred musical decade.

Yet, despite a twenty-five year career, Mudhoney have never gone the way of so many similar groups of their age. They have never split up. They have never undergone a dramatic reinvention. Frontman Mark Arm still works for Sub Pop, the band’s record label, managing their distribution warehouse. They are just four guys in a rock band, and that is what ‘Vanishing Point’ epitomises better than anything they have released for well over a decade.

‘Slipping Away’ may be something approaching expansive, by Mudhoney standards, but for the most part ‘Vanishing Point’ is more of the straightforward, gritty alt-rock that Mudhoney have been the best at since 1991. The scuzzy bark of two of Mudhoney’s all-time favourites, MC5 and The Stooges, is prevalent most of all in Steve Turner’s riffs. However there is also something of seething early day Nick Cave in Mark Arm’s lyricism, especially with the Biblical references of ‘The Only Son of the Widow from Nain’ and the blatant sarcasm of closer ‘Douchebags on Parade’. It is not so much that Mudhoney sound angry, just vitriolic when it suits them. This is a band that knows how to rock better than almost anyone else in the game and they’ll be damned if they aren’t going to act with the swagger that this earns them.

Incredibly, the fact is that Mudhoney do still do this grunge thing better than anyone else around, and they still do it with the enthusiasm of men half their age. Pearl Jam have always handled the guitar solos and the arena rock side of the style best. Alice in Chains still manage the darkness, and Nirvana brought the unrestrained global domination. Mudhoney brought the dirt under the fingernails and the sneering attitude, and on ‘Vanishing Point’ they are bringing it like it’s 1991 all over again. As Arm sings on the aforementioned ‘The Only Son of the Widow from Nain’…

“Nobody remembers my name; fucking Lazarus got all the fame”

…but then, when you are still this good, it really doesn’t matter. The real kings are back on the throne.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Norska put out some heavy sludged out tunes. Really thick on the bottom, just like I like my women. (I love you, my dear wife!) But enough about my sexual perversions, onward to the music!!

Opener 'Amnesia' was a solid pick for an album opener. It's a real barn-burner. Solid low end and moderately dizzying guitar riffs are the foundation to a mighty scream/roar. This guy must like whiskey. (At least for my sake of assumptions I hope he does.) 'Nobody One Knows' follows suit with the opener: a dizzying, anxiety filled first 90 seconds building tension for vocals screamed from a soapbox. Eventually we get a break, and crooned vocals sit atop a straight set of guitars, a sort of release from the opening of the song.

Centerpiece 'They Mostly Come At Night' is a back and forth of beautiful music the pure ugly smeared all over. At 13 minutes long, there's a lot of time to make an impact, and Norska are successful. At times I felt disjointed, maybe a little uncomfortable. But it was a 13 minute journey well work it. The musicianship displayed is good as well. Not many bands can make a song this long flow seamlessly. But Norska have managed to do so.

'Cholera' shows the strongest vocals of the album. A death roar in the last minute of the song makes perfect sense with the previous four minutes. But this is all just a build to album closer 'Two Coins For The Ferryman'. A harrowing album closer, packed with sludge, HEAVY sludge. The vocals are the cherry on top. Screams of torture and what almost sounds like a man begging from a cellar. A great way to seal the deal on this album.

Norska bring the heavy bottoms... Riffs that is. Like a swing of a sledgehammer over and over. Just heavy, even in the rare moments that the music may not be. Swing in over to Brutal Panda Records and grab this album. And be sure to tell them who sent you, so I can keep getting big bottoms.....er.....ummm...heavy low ends thrown my way.

HAIL!!!