Date Released: 16/09/2016
Label: Broken Limbs Recordings
“Black Tar
Prophet/Iron Gavel” Split LP//DD track listing:
1). Black Tar
Prophet – Malignancy
2). Black Tar
Prophet – Ruinous Decay
3). Black Tar
Prophet – Sociopathic Society
4). Black Tar
Prophet – Abuse
5). Iron Gavel –
Teeth/Torn
6). Iron Gavel –
Shroud
7). Iron Gavel –
Germ
The Review:
Splits
are always a great time, but when you have the Likes of the sonic muck makers Black Tar
Prophet on one, you must cleanse the soul for what's to come oozing
from your speakers. BTP have been dragging fans into a sludge
infested quagmire for a while now, and when paired with funereal Iron Gavel,
thou shalt not leave unmarked.
Kicking
the piece off, Black
Tar Prophet lets loose the malignancy with their harsh, throbbing
brand of sludge, with the track “Malignant”.
Throughout their half of the split (4 songs, #1-4), it's like listening to
cancer grow, an almost bulbous sound generated by their nothing-but-low-end
approach, as it just slowly grows from one song to the next. The soundbites are religious, anxious, full
of nothing but bad vibes; and their music is the sonorous black velvet curtain
behind the show. They only stray from slow trudging at the end of “Ruinous Decay” and the aptly titled “Abuse”, going faster and more violent
throughout the latter, and towards the last minute more groove oriented on the
former, respectively. And for the record, BTP makes 3 minute songs feel like a whole
album.
And
after that punishing journey, Iron Gavel gives us some simple midnight oil
stained doom, spread across the remaining 3 tracks. They have a more traditional
feel in the doom/sludge area, closer to an Electric Wizard type sound but with a more
bass heavy tone; hard to explain until you pick this one up. Opening with
thunderous “Teeth/Thorn”, Iron Gavel
riffs like a giant striding across distant lands, shaking everything around
with its mighty steps. They utilize effects well, giving a spacey vibe and
large sound to the track, and then busting out some truly fun riffage with
distortion and some phase. “Shroud”
follows suit, keeping that deep, muddy distortion tone, but is much faster, and
so much shorter at 1:31. Fun track to just jam out to. They end with “Germ”, another long song at a little
over 6 minutes, and just as full of fuzzy goodness! These guys fill rooms with a
sound large enough to blacken the lights, if this split is any to go by.
If
you're a fan of doom/sludge bands with no vocals and nothing else other than
pure volume from their amps, these two bands will delight you! Treat yourself
to one of the most even matched records of the year, and prepare to feel a
beating in your ear canal as we offer you the full and exclusive stream of the whole
split below.
“Black Tar Prophet/Iron Gavel”
is
available here
