Album
Type:
Album
Date
Released:
April 3rd
2015
Label:
Tenacity
Music
Fuel!
Flames! Blast! - Track Listing
1.Lipstick On A Pig
2.Never Sorry
3.Black Blizzard
4.Slave Of Damnation
5.Wrath
6.Blast
7.Mississippi
8.Shelter
9.Polar Thoughts
10.Desert Odyssey
Members
Maude Oswald
(baryton guitar and keyboards)
Guy Borel (guitar &
vocals)
Fabrice Marguerat
(drums)
Review:
The
Crotals sound has been compared to High On Fire, Black Tusk and Bison
BC. Sure they have a slight passing resemblance to those great bands
but I feel this band have their own sound. The Crotals debut album -
Fuel! Flames! Blast! - is an angry and violent package of intense
Sludge/Stoner Metal to crush your skull to.
Opening
track - Lipstick On A Pig - is a furious offering with the band
showing early on what their music is all about. Heavy, loud and
jagged instrumental work is blended with pitch perfect Hardcore based
vocals and growls. It's quite a bass heavy affair with the drumming
and guitars adding layers of noise and tension through out.
Second
track - Never Sorry - has more of psychedelic edge with the band
playing a more fast-paced style of Sludge/Stoner Rock. Yet again the
bass guitar is the main driving force on this song as bassist –
Maude shows she knows how to play that instrument with passion and
heavy precision.
Third
track - Black Blizzard - comes at you like an out of control
whirlwind devouring everything in its path. This is one of the
heaviest songs on the album and the vocals add a sense of dread and
doom. The Crotals do show signs of slower paced riffs that gives
their music time to breathe and impress you with. Fourth track -
Slave of Damnation - offers a more straight-forward Sludge/Stoner
Metal experience as the music is very primal with a more Punk Rock
edge. The band are having way too much fun here.
This
is the kind of album that impresses you from the start as The Crotals
have created an album that's big on ideas and riffs that will have
you coming back for more. One of the albums strengths is that most of
the songs only run for 3 to 4 mins in length so you're never bored.
The Crotals pack a lot of ideas within their music despite the 4
minute runtime. For you instrumental Sludge/Stoner Rock fans - The
Crotals have your tastes covered with the excellent instrumental
grooves of Wrath and it's packed full of glorious fuzz for you to
drown your hearing with. This is my fave song off the album as it
gives each band member the chance to show people what they can do.
Fantastic drumming spliced with impressive lead guitar and bass
guitar all vying for your attention. The song has a slight
Kylesa/Karma To Burn vibe with the band playing a heavier style of
Stoner Rock.
The
2nd half of the album sees The Crotals venture into heavier territory
compared to the first half and it becomes more of an exciting album
because of it. The fuzz-laiden psych rock grooves gives the band a
chance to stake their claim as one of the most exciting bands to look
out for within the scene. Tracks such as Blast and Mississippi has
some dark humour lurking in the background as the band offer a dark
tale of a mysterious monster like snake. The band crank up the
tension on Mississippi with finely tuned slow riffs that makes you
feel someone is watching you until the band unleash some of the
albums heaviest moments. Another one of the albums standout tracks.
Fuel!
Flames! Blast! is perfectly named as it's an explosive album to
listen to over and over again. The Crotals are another great band to
check out from the Swiss Sludge/Stoner Metal scene and this album
will hopefully see the band tour within the European Sludge/Stoner
Metal scene as they will go down a storm in the live arena. Fuel!
Flames! Blast! is a thrilling experience that I can't recommend
highly enough. Until the new High On Fire album is released then this
is the next best thing for you to buy. High praise. Possibly.
Justified. Most definitely.
Thanks
to Viral PR for the promo. Fuel! Flames! Blast! will be available to
buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Tenacity Music from April 3rd 2015.
Words
by Steve Howe
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