By: Mark Tremblay
Album Type:
EP
Date Released:
10/11/2017
Label:
Medusa Crush Recordings
For those of you who long for the days of “Blessed Black Wings” era High on Fire, this record is the
perfect trip down memory-lane. If you
dig thick and dirty riffs, you’ll dig Pale
Mare.
“Pale Mare EP” CS//DD track listing:
1). Descolada
2). Carthage
3). Hoplite
The Review:
Toronto’s
Pale Mare has finally
released their long awaited self-titled EP. After making a name for themselves
locally opening for acts such as Windhand
and Weedeater, Pale Mare have unleashed
their well-honed brand of sludge metal. For those of you who long for the days
of “Blessed Black Wings” era High on Fire, this record
is the perfect trip down memory-lane.
The
EP comes out of the gate swinging with “Descolada”;
a song built upon a heavy riff that would make Matt Pike smile. Where Pale Mare break from the
pack, however, is this jazz break they’ve fused into the middle of the song.
The clean shimmering guitar chords and wah-tinged bass give them a nuisance and
balance not often found in riff-driven music.
“Carthage”
is a straight out banger that page homage to early Baroness
EP’s “First” and “Second” while adding their own twists.
Luke Roberts’ drum fills on this track are particularly jaw-dropping. Given the
fact that he is also the guitarist and main creative force behind Ayahuasca, it begs the
question “Is there anything Luke Roberts can’t
do?”.
The
albums closer “Hoplite” is
continuation of all these elements mashed together in one riff-crammed magnum opus.
Pale Mare is a throwback
to the hey-day of the Savannah sludge metal of the early 2000s, only with a
twist. If you dig thick and dirty riffs, you’ll dig Pale Mare.
“Pale
Mare EP” is available here
