REVIEW: Gawthrop, "Gawthrop"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 31/01/2020

Label: Cursed Monk Records

“GAWTHROP” CD//DD track listing:

1). Exhaust

2). Guru

3). Blowtorch

4). Irene

The Review:

I consider myself to be something of a connoisseur of heavy music. I've heard A LOT of it in these past 30 years. It is not often that something makes me stop and turn my head based on pure power alone. But every now and again, I come across a sound that leaves me so absolutely aghast that I simply cannot find the words to describe it. Completely speechless. Gawthrop is one such band to create these sounds. As such I was forced to consult my handy dictionary, and beginning with the most logical starting point, this is what I was able to piece together.

Heavy; immoderate, thick, dense, difficult to bear. This is truly the only way to describe the music of Gawthrop. This is an all-consuming sound. One that wraps you up and can be difficult to escape from. This will not be an album for everyone, but if this particular brand of Sludge tends to peak your interest, then its time to listen up.

Coming off of a tent pole year for the band, with the release of their first demo and a string of high profile performances including an opening slot for Eyehategod, Gawthrop is poised to dominate the scope of heavy music in the year to come. With earbud exploding riffs and a beat that rattles the earth to its very core, Gawthrop is a full on sonic attack.

With the physical rerelease of their demo forthcoming, Gawthrop sets out to show the world at large just what they have to offer. This Korean Sludge outfit storms out of the gate and tramples everything in its way. Right from the start, opening track “Exhaust” batters you with its dense atmosphere and thunderous beat. The assault continues with comparatively riotous riffing of “Guru”, before slowing down with some beautiful ambient tones that kick off funeral dirge “Blowtorch”. The real star of this show is the rerelease exclusive “Irene”, a driving sludge rocker of the highest quality.

In under twenty minutes, Gawthrop beats you down and bludgeons you with noise and leaves you begging for more. This is a band to keep an eye on. Great things are to come.

“GAWTHROP” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM PREMIERE & REVIEW: Weed Priest - "Consummate Darkness"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/10/2017

Label: Cursed Monk Records

If you are a fan of Weed Priest's ultra-heavy music, you will walk away pleased. However, those new to the now-quartet will also be impressed by such additions turning out its best work so far.

"Consummate Darkness" CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Witch's Curse

2. Vampyr

3. Sky Daddy

4. The Mass

The Review:

It is quite a feat for a metal band to have a really distinctive opener, one that seizes your attention with its sound and fury. So when Irish blackened doom band Weed Priest launches its new album, "Consummate Darkness," with the song "Witch's Curse," a blistering opus if ever there was one, you can't help but stand at attention. Dishing out classic metal into the denser style of today, Weed Priest's uniquely heavy return is most welcome.

The group dropped a demo in 2011, then a full-length in 2013 and an EP in 2014. After changes to its squad – Weed Priest switched drummers and added a guitarist during this period – the four-piece issued splits in 2015 (with Astralnaut) and 2016 (with Black Capricorn). Adding players is always iffy business. "Consummate Darkness" marks the first chance for Weed Priest to spread its batlike wings on a full length using its fresh lineup.

Vocalist Adamus de Sabbator gets one hell of a backdrop to build on with that opening cut. And on "Vampyr," a track that surfaced as a preview to the album, he flips the vocal to be especially haunting. Paralleled with guitarist Sean Sullivan, de Sabbator's riffs as well as Sullivan's prove intimidating too. The vivid lyricism gets a fun touch with clips from German filmmaker Werner Herzog's 1979 adaption of "Nosferatu the Vampyre," featuring longtime collaborator Klaus Kinski and, for the sake of the song, Ronald Topor's wonderfully unhinged performance as Renfield. "Vampyr" comes in at just over 10 minutes, but feels quite complete, without bloat or overlong elements.

"Sky Daddy" brings Weed Priest back to familiar ground as some of its past work. The song is undoubtedly more on the classic metal and stoner vibe you may have heard before when the group was just a trio. Bassist K.H. Rhaagulus does a particularly good job of knitting the cut together by balancing his playing with the drums and adding some ballast to the twin guitars. Overall, it a pleasing entry, and certainly red meat for the stoner rock heads out there.

"Consummate Darkness" closes out with "The Mass," a 14-minute-plus slab of aural concrete hurled at you. Here, all of Weed Priest's parts come together seamlessly. Bass and drums build slowly, until the guitars swoop in. This is doom at its best, and the black metal-inspired growls mixed in to make those ominous guitars feel all the more threatening. "The Mass" demonstrates a new maturity for Weed Priest. The song is deliberate in a different way than some of its better past work, and the added guitar offers far more depth than previous outings. A critical ear might suggest the solos 11 minutes in might be a bit much, but they are forgivable, given all the energy the group puts into such a sterling cut.

If you are a fan of Weed Priest's ultra-heavy music, you will walk away pleased. However, those new to the now-quartet will also be impressed by such additions turning out its best work so far.

"Consummate Darkness" is available to preorder/buy here and you can stream the album in full below ahead of release on Halloween. 

Band info: bandcamp || facebook