Album Type:
Album
Date Released:
30th
November 2014
Label:
Self Released
Damage Stories
– Track Listing
1.Anticipation And
Disappointment
2.Pieces, Destroyed
3.Circadian Void
4.Pay No Mind
5.Damage Story
6.Agoraphobia
7.Criminalised
Confusion
8.The Sound Of
Wandering Through
9.Two Betrayals
10.Monuments Of
Guilt
11.Cheap
Entertainment For Mature Audiences
12.Wind Upon The
Waves
13.A Feast For Rats
14.Years To Come
Bio
Combining
the raw energy of Black Flag with the crushing doom of Black Sabbath,
we are Edmonton’s first and only “post-stoner skate-sludge”
band. Established in late 2011, Rebuild/Repair has built a solid
underground following. Our music has received airplay on the
Punknews.org Podcast, punkrockradio.net, and The Grind, and our ugly
mugs have seen print in Absolute Underground, The Griff and
Edmonton’s Vue Weekly. 2012 saw the release of two well-reviewed
E.P.'s, a Western Canadian Tour (plus half a dozen mini-tours), and
an opening spot for Off With Their Heads (Epitaph). 2013 was the
beginning of Rebuild’s takeover of Campus Radio, starting with the
release of E.P. #3, “Arson Awareness Day”. The release reached
#1-Metal/Punk Album on CFBX’s charts, #45-Album on CJSW’s, and
lead to live-broadcast performances on Kootenay Co-Op Radio and
Edmonton’s own CJSR (spins also on CJSF, CKUW, and CiTR). Take it
from The Sludgelord, “Here is a fucking brilliant band for all you
pissed off Doom/Sludge Metallers.” Look out for our new full-length
"Damage Stories" to be released in early winter 2014.
Members
Randall
Graves-Vocals, Guitar
Jason W.
Goodall-Bass
Kelly Doiron-Drums
Review:
Rebuild/Repair
have been featured on this blog before back in 2013 when I checked
out their last release. Well the guys are back to release havoc upon
to the world with their debut album - Damage Stories. Rebuild/Repair
are slightly different to other Sludge/Stoner Metal bands as they
include a term they called Post-Stoner-Skate-Sludge. When I heard
this term, I started having nightmares about the evil Nu-Metal scene
that produced so many rubbish bands. Even though the band have been
on the blog before I was still a bit apprehensive regarding the Skate
term.
So
I pressed play on Rebuild/Repair debut full length album and prepared
to be let down in a big way. Hold the phone. WOAH. What is happening
here? Damage Stories gets off to great start with Anticipation and
Disappointment. A fast paced Sludge/Stoner Metal bruising encounter
with a vibrant punk rock holding it all together. Mainly an 83 second
blast of instrumental riffs to get you into the mood before the album
fully explodes with the next full throttle track - Pieces, Destroyed
- a song that captures the identity of Rebuild/Repair. As it sees the
band playing a heavy dose of angry fast-paced Sludge/Stoner Metal
riffs with a blistering fast-paced edge. The vocals have a sneering
punk attitude to them with some hard-hitting social commentary being
thrown in for good measure.
Some
people may think this album maybe overkill at 14 songs and 55 mins in
length. But stick with it as Rebuild/Repair have written a ton of
awesome tunes and riffs to check out. It can get very psychedelic at
times and the band actually add progressive sludge vibes to their
music which I will talk about later. 3rd track - Circadian Void -
starts with a crazy lo-fi drums and bass jamming session before the
warped vocals take centre stage once again with Rebuild/Repair
keeping you entertained from start to finish. The instrumental work
is impressive indeed with Rebuild/Repair showing flashes of prog
sludge/stoner riffs now and again.
The
sound of the album has a very lo-fi vibe as the production veers into
different directions at times. It's a great sound that has a
dangerous and addictive vibe to it. That’s not to say the album has
it’s bad points, especially on the next track – Pay No Mind.
Rebuild/Repair sound like a crazy bunch of teenagers without a care
in the world and starting a band with their pals for the very first
time. Then the guys change direction for the next tune - Damage
Story - and they turn into sonic riffsters with some impressive riffs
that got my heartbeat pumping. The lyrics are gut-wrenchingly brutal
at times but it's when the band lay down some crazy psychedelic riffs
you start to notice these guys are hugely talented. Maybe they lull
you into a false sense of security with songs such as Pay No Mind
before shattering your expectations with Damage Story.
Damage
Stories is a complex beast to understand with Rebuild/Repair
unleashing a blast of tunes that runs between 2 mins to 5 mins in
length. The sound ventures into different directions at times but
Rebuild/Repair manage to keep you interested at all times. You may
not agree with what they say but you can't deny the power of their
music and some of the riffs are to die for. Maybe the band could of
left a few songs out to keep the album at a shorter length but maybe
that would of lessen the emotional impact and enjoyment of the whole
album.
Rebuild/Repair
album has a lot of FUZZ running through it's veins. The bass is
particularly heavy especially on the following tracks -The Sound Of
Wandering Through, Moments Of Guilt and the standout track - Wind
Upon The Waves, Damage Stories is a superb and thrilling ride from
start to finish.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Rebuild/Repair for the promo. Damage Stories will be available to
buy from November 30th 2014 on DD.
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