Monday 6 April 2020

ALBUM REVIEW: Beggar, "Compelled to Repeat"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 03/04/2020
Label: APF Records



Compelled to Repeat” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Blood Moon
2). Anaesthete
3). The Cadaver Speaks
4). Black Cloud
5). Trepanned Head Stares at the Sun
6). Custody of the Eyes
7). Tenantless The Graves
8). Matryoshka Brain
9). Compelled to Repeat

The Review:

With groove laden riffs and demonic aggression, London four piece Beggar provide us with the soundtrack to the most fun apocalypse imaginable. A doom-laden slop that can be danced to all night, “Compelled to Repeat” is a party record for the rest of us.

Low tuned guitars and walls of distortion, a godless howl soaring high above an unforgiving back beat. It sounds familiar, doesn't it?  But just like discovering that your grandmother's cookies contain the same butter, flour, eggs and sugar as everyone else's, we realize that the raw ingredients make up only the basis for the thing we love so much.

So what is it, exactly?  Well, reader, I would have to say that just like the heaping spoonful of love that your dear gram tossed into her cookie dough, the answer lies much deeper than the genre standards presented here. I think the success of this one lies within the band itself and the good time that just can't be hidden by the grimy sludge piled on top of it.

Every riff on this album drips with swagger. There is a persistent groove to every fuzzed out, doomsday invoking riff. This is an all that just wants to keep you moving, regardless of the end times presented by the musical narrative.  You just can't help but feel the beat. It might be apocalyptic, but it's a really good time.

I for one have absolutely no problem with this. There will doubtless be purists who disagree with me, either shouting from their podiums that fun had no place in the doom and gloom that they have come to love, or even flat out denying the good times present in these delightful grooves. That's ok. Everyone has an opinion.  This is mine. 

With its fuzz drenched riffs, chest caving beats and chaotically screeched vocals providing imagery of fire and brimstone raining down on a world gone wrong, punchy grooves provide a medium for us all to dance ourselves out the door.

Beggar's Compelled to Repeat” is the feel-good hit of the biblical revelation, and I compel you top give it a listen.


“Compelled to Repeat” is available HERE




Band info: bandcamp || facebook