ALBUM REVIEW: Beggar, "Compelled to Repeat"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 03/04/2020

Label: APF Records

“Compelled to Repeat” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Blood Moon

2). Anaesthete

3). The Cadaver Speaks

4). Black Cloud

5). Trepanned Head Stares at the Sun

6). Custody of the Eyes

7). Tenantless The Graves

8). Matryoshka Brain

9). Compelled to Repeat

The Review:

With groove laden riffs and demonic aggression, London four piece Beggar provide us with the soundtrack to the most fun apocalypse imaginable. A doom-laden slop that can be danced to all night, “Compelled to Repeat” is a party record for the rest of us.

Low tuned guitars and walls of distortion, a godless howl soaring high above an unforgiving back beat. It sounds familiar, doesn't it?  But just like discovering that your grandmother's cookies contain the same butter, flour, eggs and sugar as everyone else's, we realize that the raw ingredients make up only the basis for the thing we love so much.

So what is it, exactly?  Well, reader, I would have to say that just like the heaping spoonful of love that your dear gram tossed into her cookie dough, the answer lies much deeper than the genre standards presented here. I think the success of this one lies within the band itself and the good time that just can't be hidden by the grimy sludge piled on top of it.

Every riff on this album drips with swagger. There is a persistent groove to every fuzzed out, doomsday invoking riff. This is an all that just wants to keep you moving, regardless of the end times presented by the musical narrative.  You just can't help but feel the beat. It might be apocalyptic, but it's a really good time.

I for one have absolutely no problem with this. There will doubtless be purists who disagree with me, either shouting from their podiums that fun had no place in the doom and gloom that they have come to love, or even flat out denying the good times present in these delightful grooves. That's ok. Everyone has an opinion.  This is mine. 

With its fuzz drenched riffs, chest caving beats and chaotically screeched vocals providing imagery of fire and brimstone raining down on a world gone wrong, punchy grooves provide a medium for us all to dance ourselves out the door.

Beggar's “Compelled to Repeat” is the feel-good hit of the biblical revelation, and I compel you top give it a listen.

“Compelled to Repeat” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Beggar - "Chainscraper" (EP)

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 17/05/2017

Label: Independent

Still heavy, with flourishes of dank blues, Beggar sets a dense forecast on each track.

“Chainscraper” CD//DD track listing

1. Chainscraper

2. Take a Leaf

3. Our Good Name

4. Cryptid

The Review:

As metal bands go, London's Beggar is as active as they come. Formed in 2012, Beggar released a string of recordings, including its self-titled demo in 2013, “Beggar II” in 2014 and EPs in 2015 and 2016. Vocalist Charlie Davis, guitarists Abraham Whitworth and Jake Leyland and drummer Bertrand Sautier clearly have a significant amount of creative energy between them. With the group's third EP, "Chainscraper," Beggar's music seems primed for its next stage of development.

Those who have heard past works by Beggar will surely remember some of the more melodic tones to its work. Although the music has always been quite thick, there were plenty of hooks and strong rhythms from Sautier and Davis, who covers bass duties as well. This EP, the recording feels far more urgent with vocals much edgier than its last forays. Still heavy, with flourishes of dank blues, Beggar sets a dense forecast on each track. Some critics have likened the style to something south of Rage Against the Machine. It is possible to hear echoes of that group in the first 60 seconds of a track like "Cryptid" although what Beggar does is truthfully far different. There's certainly some groove, but it is without the rap and hip-hop influences of Rage. It is easier to hear something more like early Suicidal Tendencies in many of these riffs. For the pure metal fan, such is welcome news.

Beggar's new recording, in fact, unifies most with hard rock, punk and neo-blues inspirations to its already potent metal clang. Listeners get the gouge of classic metal and sludge from the beginning with the title track, then into "Take A Leaf," which sprinkles in just a bit of thrash too. It's really mellifluous, in fact. Rarely do you find yourself bobbing your head with a band's sticky tightness, but you get it here. Maybe it's band compatibility that lends to Beggar's prodigious output and just how enjoyable these guys are when they play together. However the group wrings out just excellent music, they do it with gusto on this new EP.

Throw up a high five to Davis, of course, for adeptly using this vehicle for his shouts, growls and brutal vocals on a song such as "Our Good Name." The lead on this EP is quite a standout. Then again, this new recording by Beggar reveals a band growing and getting better with time.

"Chainscraper" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Beggar - Beggar II - EP Review

Album Type: EP

Date Released: May 30^th 2014

Label: Self Released

Beggar II - track listing:

1.Live Like Kings 01:25

2.Rut Like a Hog 01:52

3.Aphasia 03:15

4.Knuckledragging 03:42

5.Leper's Mass 08:03

6.The Way Out 03:29

Bio:

Genuflection before the altar of riff.

Band Members

Charlie Davis - Bass/Vocals

Abraham Whitworth - Guitar

Jake Leyland - Guitar

Ant Adeane - Drums

Review:

Now here is something loud, angry and very heavy as fuck to check out. Beggar are a band who fuse Blues Rock, Alt Rock, Stoner, Noise Rock and Sludge Metal. A very strange and noisy experience indeed. They have just released their 2^nd EP called Beggar II. And it rocks like the proverbial MUTHAFUCKA.

It's loud as hell right from the very start. It's not the best produced of releases but it has some bone-crunching sludgy violent riffs to help you start your day in the wrong frame of mind. As it's quite depressing in parts but the band do offer moments of lighter blues/alt rock vibes before unleashing their violent noisy persona on us all when the time calls for it.

Lead vocalist – Charlie – is having the time of his life here a he shrieks, growls and snarls his way through a superb set of tracks that will sound absolutely intense live. Especially on the 8 minute plus epic – Leper's Mass. It takes a band with huge confidence to pull of a track such as this. A blistering and action packed track that pushes all the buttons as Beggar unleash a torrent of epic riffs that feels like a noisy Sludge/Alt-Rock/Blues Rock/Stoner Metal extravaganza exploding in your head. Yeah this track is awesome and proves these guys have the potential to go a very long way indeed.

Download this now as it's available on BandCamp Buy Now Download. Witness the full utter chaos and destructive powers of Beggar. You have been warned!!!

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Check Beggar from Links Below

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Written by Steve Howe