By: Charlie Butler
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 12/10/2017
Label: Burning World Records
Drunk In Hell have delivered what is easily the
most horrible release of 2017. Seven years of accrued filth and sludge has
never sounded so good.
“Drunk
In Hell” DD//LP
track listing:
1). I’m An
Arsehole
2). Sick
Sick Sex
3). Bitch
Boy
4). I’m Not
Laughing
5). Born
Sick
6). Chick
Flick
7). Gag
8). Walking
Abortion
The Review:
It seemed
that Drunk
In Hell’s debut album was destined to exist only in the realm of
myth. Somehow after a gruelling seven year gestation period, the notorious Middlesbrough hellraisers have finally managed to drag
this dirty beast into reality.
“I’m An Arsehole” sets out the blueprint
for forty minutes of soul-crushing, feedback-soaked monotony. Each track is
based around one (occasionally two if you’re really lucky) minimal,
knuckle-dragging riffs that the band hammer to breaking point and beyond.
Imagine Flipper’s
“Generic” pumped up on steroids and
ruined on cheap lager and you get a good idea of the kind of punishing dirge Drunk In Hell
have to offer. Bish’s belligerent vocals establish a threatening air of
constant menace, decipherable enough to discern some of the grotty details of “Sick Sick Sex” and “Bitch Boy” but incoherent enough to
leave the complete picture disturbingly vague.
“I’m Not Laughing” provides a twisted
adrenaline rush before the second half of the LP sees the band increase the
levels of drudgery with grossly compelling results. “Born Sick” is based on a lumbering doom riff
that feels like the Melvin’s back catalogue distilled into one
shot of pure evil while the ominous rumble of “Gag” heightens the mood of dread.
The eight
minutes of “Walking Abortion” brings
the album to a close in tense fashion. The track comes across like a weird,
tooled-up version of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”, based on
an unrelenting drum beat that drives a feeling of increasing desperation and
futility reflected in the guitars and vocals. The spell is finally broken by a
squalling cloud of feral saxophone that provides a suitably nasty finale.
Drunk In Hell have delivered what is
easily the most horrible release of 2017. Seven years of accrued filth and
sludge has never sounded so good.
“Drunk In Hell” is available here
