Album Status: Released July 16th 2012
Label: Hell Comes Home
What we have here Sludge heads, is Disc 8 of the Hell Comes Home vinyl Box set. I first mentioned the box set on 26th April 2012. Featuring new and exclusive recordings from some of the best sludge doom metal bands around, the box set was originally released from March to August 2012 consecutively.
Once you subscribed to the package, which is 59.99 euros, you received two new splits 7"inch vinyls in the post every month. The last package included a special limited edition box and a t-shirt to complete the set, with a choice of sizes from small, medium, large and x-large. Check out the package here. The subscription side of things has now come to an end, however you can still buy the vinyls separately or a box set
Last time I brought you Fistula and Coffinworm, however that was back in Aug 2012, so there has been quite a gap. The start of the new year, I have decided to complete the boxset of reviews, so today on the 8th instalment are The Swan King and Tellusian. Both tracks are new and previously unreleased tracks are far as I know. This boxset was featured in my Top 25 releases of 2012 here
TRACK LIST
THE SWAN KING SIDE
1). BETWEEN THE LINES
TELLUSIAN SIDE
1). THE COLDEST OF SEASONS
The Swan King
Review
The Swan King
Biography
The Swan King formed in 2009 by guitarist/vocalist Dallas Thomas (ex-Asschapel), bassist Jamie Drier (ex-Planes Mistaken For Stars) and Chicago native Zafar Musharraf on drums. When the band began, the trio started writing songs in the Robert Fripp Guitar Craft tuning to help them break out of the old rock comfort zone. They have often been compared to the songwriting of the Wipers mixed with the noisiness of bands on the Amphetamine Reptile label. The Swan King's debut release, "Eyes Like Knives" was recorded with Sanford Parker and was released on Seventh Rule
Current line up
Jamie Drier / Bass -
Zafar Musharraf / Drums -
Dallas Thomas / Guitar - Vox
Zafar Musharraf / Drums -
Dallas Thomas / Guitar - Vox
Review
Kicking off with what sounds like a Never Say Die era Black Sabbath era riff, blended with
post-hardcore influence. The Swan King are another amazing discovery. A classic sounding band and yet the track is wonderfully hooky, with a devastating bass sound and at times just the right amount sludge, in addition to some AmpRep era goodness. Dallas Thomas has a great voice and is great focal point of the track. Too me what is indicative of this track is that The Swan King feel original despite the AmpRep noise rock influence. Riffs are classic sounding but are crunchy, drums are tight and crisp, with the bass tone standing out. It is difficult to judge a band based on one track but what I hear, does make me want to hear more.
Tellusian
Biography
Tellusian came together in 2010 in the city of Malmö, Sweden. John Nilsson (Guitars) and Erik Hall (Drums) had been jamming around for a while, and after the demise of Crowpath the ideas of turning Tellusian into a proper "active" band started to grow. Robert Fuchs was added on bass and Henrik Ivarsson stepped in on vocals
Current Line up
Erik - Drums
Henrik - Vocals
Robert - Bass
John - Guitar
Review
Progressive, intricate guitar work, with death growls and a side order of sludge added to the mix gives this track a truly heavy flavour. Indeed there is so much going on during this track, a neat little trill like guitar fill, a booming bass sound and Ihsahn type vocals makes this another stand out track. Technical progressive sludge metal with some death grind influence. Hell the sounds of bassy riffs draw comparisons to early Mastodon, it truly is an eclectic infusion of elements on this track. I loved every second of this track. Brilliant stuff.
So to recap, the box set is available to buy as a full package of 12x 7" vinyl, however Hell Comes Home also sell a limited quantity of the 7" vinyls separately and you receive digital downloads coupons when you purchase them. For those of us who do not have turntables, you can purchase the songs as a digital download from their bandcamp page. For more info on this extraordinary release and the bands featured please check out the links below. Thanks to Joel from Hell Comes Home.
Written by: Aaron Pickford
Tellusian came together in 2010 in the city of Malmö, Sweden. John Nilsson (Guitars) and Erik Hall (Drums) had been jamming around for a while, and after the demise of Crowpath the ideas of turning Tellusian into a proper "active" band started to grow. Robert Fuchs was added on bass and Henrik Ivarsson stepped in on vocals
Current Line up
Erik - Drums
Henrik - Vocals
Robert - Bass
John - Guitar
Review
Progressive, intricate guitar work, with death growls and a side order of sludge added to the mix gives this track a truly heavy flavour. Indeed there is so much going on during this track, a neat little trill like guitar fill, a booming bass sound and Ihsahn type vocals makes this another stand out track. Technical progressive sludge metal with some death grind influence. Hell the sounds of bassy riffs draw comparisons to early Mastodon, it truly is an eclectic infusion of elements on this track. I loved every second of this track. Brilliant stuff.
So to recap, the box set is available to buy as a full package of 12x 7" vinyl, however Hell Comes Home also sell a limited quantity of the 7" vinyls separately and you receive digital downloads coupons when you purchase them. For those of us who do not have turntables, you can purchase the songs as a digital download from their bandcamp page. For more info on this extraordinary release and the bands featured please check out the links below. Thanks to Joel from Hell Comes Home.
Written by: Aaron Pickford
