Album Type: Full Length
Date
Released:
13/04/2015
Label: Riff Dealer
Records
/Totem Cat Records
‘Hochelaga’
CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Sludgekicker
2).
Chameleon Witch
3).
Vagabong
4).
Scum Fuck Blues
5).
Dry Hitter
6).
Bullets
7).
Riff Dealer
Dopethone
are:
Drums
| Borman
Guitar,
Vox | Vincent
Bass
| Vyk
Review:
I
don't care how scuzzy you think you sound, you aren't Dopethrone. These guys
are the drug problem in Heavy anything, and I am pretty sure they have a
problem. Not the issue, because they have graced us with another slab of pure
sonic ecstasy, their new catalogue of riffs entitled ‘Hochelaga’. This is a 7
song ode to brutal, smoke infused riffs, dripping with vicious intent to peddle.
I am a lover of all things fuzzy and dirty, so this scratches my itch! Let’s
dig in!
The
album is, in a word, massive. Beware the listener that clicks play on this with
cheap speakers. You'll soon need to replace them simply because of the sludgy,
waxy build-up their riffs will leave on the speaker material. They play some of
the nastiest blues you'll find outside of Satan's record collection, focusing
on booze, rebellion, occult, sex, and of course, drugs. The threesome has been
breaking shit and setting it on fire since about 2009, officially, with ‘Demonsmoke’,
then a 2 year hiatus till Dark Foil in 2011, III in 2012, and now a further 3 years until this
current miasma of debauchery, ‘Hochelaga’. The band is also named after album 3
from Electric Wizard, Dopethrone, which
is also a must listen (in my opinion) of the stoner/doom/heavy blues
pantheon.
As
far as the band plays, it’s as heavy and groovy as a well used vinyl in a
second hand bin, and the vocals sound like they've been soaked in gasoline and
then rehydrated with whisky and greased with dab wax. They make my throat hurt,
even more so than grindcore. Vincent Houde (guitars/Vocals) throws his back
into it, with a voice that sounds like something
lurking in shadows of the campfire. It's amazing, and fits the band like a
jigsaw piece. Their sound is that of the genre, very fuzzy, downtuned and with
heavy drive that blasts at you like a 12 gauge, accompanied by very deft
drumming supporting them. Borman on the skins uses a heavy cymbal style, but
its honestly not as bad as some prog or hardcore bands and the only reason I
have noticed, is because I am looking for things, and they are smooth as 10
year old bourbon. They use samples from what sound like older movies and PSA
stuff, mostly to warn folks that witches, bikers, slick haired vultures, drugs,
and evil exists out there, and its agents are lurking around every corner you
can't see around to take the youth. Just a perfect touch to their playing and
adds a little menace into the mix, with ‘Hochelaga’, they paid attention to the
details and your certainly not short-changed.
My
highlight from this album is ‘Scum Fuck Blues’, song 4 on the record, simply
because it’s absolutely the most pissed off track, and makes you feel like you
wanna go wreck something. We've all been in those pitch black moods, where
absolutely nothing is good anymore, and we want to simply just crawl in a hole
and die. That's this song. It’s a bad mood and a bar fight put to sound, and
the video that TheWhoreChurch did on YouTube is absolutely perfect. Using old
footage, both movie and life, they capture the grit of the music, the brutality
and passion with which Dopethrone lay down their drug fueled rhetoric.
The
album is topped with artwork that should have been a horror poster for an
obscure 70s satanic ode, perfectly communicating what sonic ride you are about
to embark upon. This album is perfect for the person who wants to dig deep in
the grave for stoner/doom music, who wants something a little darker off the
path of music. Or, if you've found Electric Wizard and loved them, want
something new to spin. Grab it as soon as it drops!
Words by: Hunter
Young
‘Hochelaga’
is available on CD and vinyl here
For more
information:
