Saturday 8 November 2014

Rebuild/Repair - Damage Stories (Album Review)

Damage Stories cover art

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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