By:
Ben Fitts
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 14/04/2017
Label: UMC
Recordings
The
strongest part of “Oh Deer God” are the bloated, swaggering riffs that invade
every one of the album’s seven tracks. The riffs loom over the music like a
giant surveying a small village, resolve in just the right way, and give the
album a raw, beefy strength that makes it so enjoyable. At just under half an
hour total, “Oh Deer God” is a brief, but delightful venture into where
vaporous desert rock meets viscous sludge metal.
“Oh Deer God” track listing:
1. Oh Deer God
2. Caffeine and Hatred
3. Heresy and Venom
4. Blue Tuna
5. Ride To The Realm Of Coitus
6. Baron Greenback Blues
7. Germanium Buzz
The Review:
A
typical desert rock band can teleport the listener into the driver’s seat of a
grimy dune buggy as it glides through scorched sands and blisters in the rays
of a too near sun. On their 2012 debut album, “Death Valley Dutchess”,
English quartet Widows recreated these typical desert rock
aesthetics rather admirably. However the band’s sophomore effort, “Oh
Deer God”, sees Widows push their
desert rock sound into sludge territory, existing in a wonderful sweet spot
between the two styles. While “Death Valley Dutchess” might bring the listener to the
previously described dune buggy in the desert, “Oh Deer God” rips you out of your seat and hurls you
into a gurgling, alien tar pit crawling with creatures that exist only on the
outskirts of human imagination.
“Oh
Deer God”
is
still brimming with all the indolent rhythmic feels, bluesy riffing and smokey
guitar tones that are the calling cards of desert rock, but it also drips with
all the rancor, harshness and hostility that make a great sludge album. Tracks
such as “Blue Tina”, “Baron Greenback Blues” and the
album’s closer, “Germanium Buzz” show that Widows still retain
their aptitude for mid-tempo, blues inflected stompers. However, “Oh
Deer God” also sees the band
pushing higher speeds and playing with more propulsive rhythms, as evidenced by
the crushing title track that opens the album and the hardcore nodding, minute
and eleven second long bruiser “Caffeine and Hatred”.
The
strongest part of “Oh Deer God” are the
bloated, swaggering riffs that invade every one of the album’s seven tracks.
The riffs loom over the music like a giant surveying a small village, resolve
in just the right way, and give the album a raw, beefy strength that makes it
so enjoyable. There is hardly a forgettable one on the whole album. The
standout track of the album may be its fourth number, “Blue Tina”. Beginning
with a grooving, blues based guitar riff and sparse percussion that could be
the soundtrack to selling your soul to the space devil at the galactic
crossroads, the track builds quickly as the band comes in at full, pummeling
force. Built around the strongest riff on an album defined by strong riffs, “Blue
Tina” is four minutes and twenty seconds (draw your own conclusions) of
stoner rock paradise. At just under half an hour total, “Oh Deer God” is a brief,
but delightful venture into where vaporous desert rock meets viscous sludge
metal.
Check out the amazing title track "Oh Deer God" below
Check out the amazing title track "Oh Deer God" below
Band info: facebook
