By:
Ernesto Aguilar
Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 06/10/2017
Label: Argonauta Records
The music the performers put forth is like a flare flung out on a dark street, either as a vain hope for rescue or to light up one's march to an abyss. No doubt you will leave the strangling blackness created over three songs and 50 minutes from the darkly titled "Be No One, Be Nothing" with just that feeling.
“Be No One, Be Nothing” CD//DD track listing
1.
Burden
2.
Harva
3.
Realm
The Review:
Every
once in awhile, there are metal releases that are especially mesmerizing. The
music the performers put forth is like a flare flung out on a dark street,
either as a vain hope for rescue or to light up one's march to an abyss. No
doubt you will leave the strangling blackness created over three songs and 50
minutes from the darkly titled "Be
No One, Be Nothing" with just that feeling.
The
debut full length by Tours, France's Crackhouse follows its
two-song EP released in February. There, you got a taste of the trio's simply
violating ethos. Crushing guitars of sludge, ingredients that bake prog-rock,
heavy blues and stoner metal in the cake. You get the picture. Think Dopethrone through a flaming lawn mower. Good stuff.
And
so here we are. Don't let the name – I know, I know… they're trap houses, not
crack houses, these days – deter you from taking in the savagery before you.
What stands out most on Crackhouse's three cuts
is the aesthetic. How else can you describe songs that feel exactly right --
not too long, not bloated, but rather tell a compelling story in the time they
need? "Burden" begins
slowly, a formula that feels all too familiar, before drenching you in an
expansive wall of guitar, bass and drums, with effects flitting in on occasion.
With experienced regional artists Simon Morlec, Jean-Baptiste Carton and
Guillaume Vailant making up the group, you are quickly introduced through this
first track to Crackhouse's intelligent arrangements and
intriguing songwriting. The vocals veer from the typical sludge blueprint – instead
there are well-done echoes and emoting that is not the growling you know well, and
it works. A song this big, 18-plus minutes, makes some tempo changes as the
story progresses. The bass lines sway throughout, steadying what can at points
be swinging emotions within the opener.
The
closing track matches its opening partner and just over 22 minutes. "Realm" has a copacetic space
rock build that succeeds by not relying on classic metal tropes that sometimes
creep in during these styles of introductions. Into that third minute, Crackhouse churns a gratifying post-rock pace that feels
original. Drums pick up, however, and the band matches them with harder guitars
and faster bass. The trio does not let up from the first one-third of the music
until the end; the music is intense and vocals are tenacious.
One
of the biggest difficulties for stoner and doom bands that attempt massive
compositions is not sounding derivative or overlong. Middle track "Harva" strikes a blistering
balance with its impressive guitars and songwriting, while upholding the style Crackhouse generated attention for. Although it could be
said its open and close could be tighter, the band's complete debut "Be No One, Be Nothing"
frankly would not be as excellent. Crackhouse creates an
oppressive release certain to remind you why it is a name to be watched for in
metal into future recordings.
"Be
No One, Be Nothing" is available here
