Labels: Brew Records
Review by: Alex Deller
Rather like this, for the most part. It’s more to the point than their previous opus for 20 Buck Spin, with more variety and less of an inclination towards the lengthy Isisisms that every other fucker currently seems to be trying their hand at. Instead we get bleary Melvins slogging, restless ‘Sky Valley’-era Josh Homme riffing and a definite whiff of the Ozzy about John Sutcliffe’s vocals when he stops hollering his fucking head off for a sec and has a go at ‘proper’ singing. Gnarled goodness pours gloopily from every gap for the first 20 minutes as though the album’s struggling to hold it all in, with highlights including the blazing ‘Stew For The Murder Minded’ and its worrying descent into incomprehensible jibber-jabber and the incessant metalized clawing of ‘My Enemy Of My Enemy Is Me’. Closing proceedings, though, is the 17-minute ‘Heavy Black Snow’ which shows that the band haven’t entirely shrugged off their commitment to the epic path and also suggests they’re not incapable of making the odd blunder. After a bout of steady, familiar pummel space is made for Rose Kemp to provide some OTT spoken-word mutterings that don’t sit quite right and frankly go on for way too long, only stopping for a brief bout of puzzling Om-ish languor and the eventual climax which has Kemp ditching her thesp bit for a ritual chant-come-howl that ends the album on a note that showcases a will for experimentation if not a 100% hit rate.