By:
Chris Bull
Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 08/09/2017
Label: Black Bow Records
71TONMAN absolutely
bludgeon the listener with hammer blows of relentless doom
“Earthwreck” CD//DD track listing
1.
Lifeless
2.
Negative
3.
Phobia
4).
Zero
5).
Torment
6).
Spiral
The Review:
Subtlety
isn't something usually associated with sludge/doom, realistically, why should
it? Poland's 71TONMAN, the latest to signing for Jon
Davis' Black Bow Records, show no sign of straying
from the well trodden path with 'Earthwreck'.
'Lifeless' sees 71TONMAN let you take a deep breath before absolutely bludgeoning with hammer blows of relentless doom. The death growl vocals make the songs reminiscent of Winter but have more in common with the likes of Dismember and Entombed with the way they echo into the psyche. 'Negative' has more to offer melodically than most doom bands do on entire albums, without losing the malicious, pummeling heaviness. 'Phobia' toys with the sensibilities of the traditional doom fan; this is extreme metal chump, save your talk of pentatonic scales for the millions of Kyuss/Church Of Misery rip offs! The sheer weight of the track makes you hyper aware of gravity and just when you think you can nod your head to the groove, they mangle the formula and have you gurning with glee.
'Lifeless' sees 71TONMAN let you take a deep breath before absolutely bludgeoning with hammer blows of relentless doom. The death growl vocals make the songs reminiscent of Winter but have more in common with the likes of Dismember and Entombed with the way they echo into the psyche. 'Negative' has more to offer melodically than most doom bands do on entire albums, without losing the malicious, pummeling heaviness. 'Phobia' toys with the sensibilities of the traditional doom fan; this is extreme metal chump, save your talk of pentatonic scales for the millions of Kyuss/Church Of Misery rip offs! The sheer weight of the track makes you hyper aware of gravity and just when you think you can nod your head to the groove, they mangle the formula and have you gurning with glee.
'Zero'
offers brief respite as the industrial noise is penetrated by clean guitars and
syncopated drums before going whole hog with devastating riffs. 'Torment' makes great use of atmosphere
to season the heaviness and 'Spiral'
chops at your ear drums with its tremelo picking before smashing the weighty
yet wonderfully catchy, riffs. Excellent stuff.
I don't like to write negative points about bands, and I'm not going to here, my only mild criticism would be that with 6 songs lasting 9 minutes each, the slog can be difficult to manage. Luckily there are plenty of intricacies throughout to keep your attention. I had the fortune of playing with these guys in Warsaw a few weeks back and I can confirm that they absolutely slay. A gem of a release.
I don't like to write negative points about bands, and I'm not going to here, my only mild criticism would be that with 6 songs lasting 9 minutes each, the slog can be difficult to manage. Luckily there are plenty of intricacies throughout to keep your attention. I had the fortune of playing with these guys in Warsaw a few weeks back and I can confirm that they absolutely slay. A gem of a release.
“Earthwreck”
is available here
