Labels: Headless Guru – Mosh Tuneage – Tadpole
Review by: Kunal Nandi
I just learned that Sea Bastard have recorded their second album, which either means they have an admirable work ethic or I totally don’t because I was meant to review this ages ago. Maybe it’s a bit of both. Anyway, it’s no wonder it’s taken me a while to process this, their debut album, a monster double LP of five tracks, none of which dip below the ten minute mark. But let’s forget dry statistics because the key thing here is that this things just rolls by, its relentless momentum aided by a nice line in Wino-inspired chilled riffing, soulful and innately melodic. Things get hefty though, don’t you worry, with some starkly harsh upfront vocals screaming in your ear while monolithic slabs of riffs slam down Tetris-style. If you’re looking for references, think of the missing link between the pummel of High On Fire and the lava-flow of Sleep, perhaps erring towards the former. This is doom in the sense that there is a pervading sense of menace rather than that terribly boring slow-for-the-sake-of-slow which a slew of bands are doing right now. These guys are not rewriting the rulebook, but certainly giving it a good spell-check. Oliver also guitars for War Wolf who are very much in the same spirit but distilled to crystal-clear metal punk clarity, so check them out if time is of the essence.