The Sludgelord News: Headliners Announced for Manchester Doom, Sludge & Stoner All-Dayer

NOIZ Promotions is hosting a day of BIG RIFFS AND HEAVY TONES at the Star & Garter, Manchester, on Saturday 17 October. Event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1479544972270465/

The NOIZ All-Dayer will be headlined by enchanting, classic doomers Alunah, which forms the Manchester date of their Octdoom Tour.

The lineup is now almost full with Ten Foot Wizard, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Bastard of the Skies, Conjurer, Kurokuma, Monolith Cult, Grey Widow, Gévaudan and Under joining Alunah.

NOIZ Promotions commented: “Over the last few years, the city of Manchester has become one of the most respected and active in the UK riff scene and has drawn interest and fans to here, resulting in an expanding, yet tight-knit scene. I'm really excited to have such a great lineup – so, BIG RIFFS AND HEAVY TONES will be the order of the day.”

The event will also feature side attractions and an aftershow, details of which are all yet to be announced, together with the final wave of band announcements in the coming weeks.



Bastard of the Skies / Grimpen Mire - Split (Vinyl) - Review

Album Type: Split Record

Date Released: 10^th May 2014

Label: Future Noise Music

Bastard of the Skies / Grimpen Mire - Split (Vinyl) track listing:

01. Yarn (Bastard of the Skies)

02. Bao Fu (Bastard of the Skies)

03. Wounder (Bastard of the Skies)

04. Old Vessels (Bastard of the Skies)

05. Hollow Wreck (Grimpen Mire)

06. Vermin Hive (Grimpen Mire)

07. Fragments of Forgotten Craft (Grimpen Mire)

Bio:

The ground will shake as Future Noise bring two rising titans of the UK underground together for what will be one of the heaviest releases of the year. Blackburn’s noisiestsludge merchants BASTARD OF THE SKIES and Birmingham’s purveyors of filthy doom GRIMPEN MIRE go head to head on a limited split 12” featuring new, previously unheard

tracks from both bands.

Bastard of the Skies take over side A, with four songs that further reinforce the potency of their hard-hitting, sludgy noise rock that so captivated anyone subjected to their most recent full-length, 2012’s ‘Tarnation’. Cavernous, bass-heavy monsters like ‘Yarn’ or closing behemoth ‘Old Vessels’ will make side A’s 20 minutes feel like 20 years of ugliness,

corruption and anger as the unstoppable mega-riffs pile around the poor listener.

Side B is left entirely to Grimpen Mire’s sonic pollution, and their 20 minutes are spent with but three songs, each driving the listener down into a deeper, darker pit of death and despair. Sounding even more despondent than they did on their cult debut full-length, 2012’s ‘A Plague Upon Your Houses’ which still seems to plague us today, Grimpen Mire

deliver proper horrid doom as a perfect complement to Bastard of the Skies’ opening confrontational aggression.

All seven songs were recorded by Bastard of the Skies guitarist/vocalist Matt Richardson at his own Full Stack Studio, and to further reinforce the massive weight of both bands, master of sonic grimness James Plotkin (OLD, Khanate, Khlyst) was roped in for a typically amazing mastering job. The limited 12” is still adorned by Michael Cowell’s deeply

evocative artwork, perfectly capturing the feeling of creeping dread evoked by both bands.

The Band Members

Bastard of the Skies is:

Matt Richardson (Vocals/Guitar) Claire Horrocks (Bass) Matt Aldred (Drums)

Grimpen Mire is:

Paul Van Linden (Bass/Vocals) Jim Goad (Guitar/Vocals) Ian Davis (Drums)

Bastard of The Skies (Side A) - Review:

The eagerly awaited split record from two of the UK heaviest's Doom/Sludge Metal bands is finally upon us. Bastard Of The Skies and Grimpen Mire who we are huge fans of here at Sludgelord HQ.

These bands fucking crush everything in sight on this outstanding release of brutal and heavy sludge metal riffage. Each band is allocated 20 minutes each to pulverize you into submission. Bastard Of The Skies are the first band to deliver their trademark crushing riffs with the heavy pummelling nature of Yarn. A track that shows why we rate Bastard Of The Skies so highly. The band leave no stone unturned in playing some fast paced and dangerous riffs to get you in the mood. If you're a fan of High On Fire then this band will speak volumes to you. Lead vocalist – Matt – pours his heart and soul into this song as his vocals are bleak as they come. You can feel his pain cutting right through your body.

Bastard Of The Skies unleash their primal fury once more on Bao Fu. It goes straight in for the kill with intense riffs that leave you no doubt the band mean business here. It ain't pretty but these Bastards have a job to do. So buckle up and shut the hell up as this song is one loud mean pissed off track that the band don't hold back from. There are a couple of moments where the band slow things down a bit but not for long as this band belongs in the darkness. They thrive on the dark and bleakness of it all. Though it still has a lot of groove for you to rock out to.

Third Track – Rounder – is a fast paced Sludge Metal affair that goes straight in for the kill and doesn't let rip for one second. Matt is screaming his heart out yet again. His vocals take an almighty pounding here but it's his bandmates Claire on Bass and the other Matt on drums that gives Rounder a brutal edge of it's own. As they both play out of their skins here.

Last but by no means least for Bastard Of The Skies is the 8 minute epic Old Vessels that carries on the brutal style of attack that has came before it. This is the loudest track on this split release. So play this song nice and loud to get the full effect.

Grimpen MIre (Side B) - Review:

Now it's time for Grimpen Mire's turn to obliterate your hearing into submission. It's been a while since I have listened to Grimpen Mire's debut album. But listening to their side of the split record brought all the brutal and brilliant memories flooding back as I forgot how loud these guys can actually be.

Their first offering – The Hollow Wreck – carries on the brutal tone where Bastard Of The Skies left off though with healthy slice of doom metal thrown in for added measure. Grimpen Mire play on your worst fears by bringing a scary doom and gloom vibe to the party. It has shades of early THOU and that is no bad thing but Grimpen Mire throw in some NOLA style riffs to lighten the mood just for a brief second or two.

2^nd track – Vermin Hive – is a torturous slab of intense vocals and slow-paced riffs combining for one bleak as fuck tale that will have you on the edge of your seat. The dual vocals of Paul and Jim brilliantly play off each other like two classic horror icons battling it out for psychopathic supremacy. Jason and Freddy have nothing on these two evil mofos once they get going. It's bleak as hell but Grimpen Mire have managed to included some atmospheric riffs that will have you rocking out to.

Grimpen Mire's last offering is the 8:09 minute epic – Fragments of Forgotten Craft. A slow paced monster that takes time in building up the atmosphere with some bass heavy riffs to chill your soul to. Another stand-out track from this excellent split release. The vocals are once again sung at you with terror and menace lurking in the background. Though Grimpen Mire deserve credit for adding a funeral doom like organ instrumental piece towards the end of the song. It will send chills down your body.

My final thoughts – Well this is an outstanding release showcasing two of the UK's finest and heaviest bands from the Doom/Sludge Metal scene. This is a must have release. Spellbinding and creepy as hell.

Thanks to Future Noise Music for sending us a promo to review. Bastard of the Skies / Grimpen Mire - Split (Vinyl) will be available to buy from May 10^th2014.

Check The Bands From Links Below

Bastard Of The Skies

Facebook

BandCamp

Grimpen Mire

Facebook

BandCamp

Written by Steve Howe

Live Review : Bastard of the Skies, Bast, Corrupt Moral Altar, Conan, Kraak Gallery, Manchester, UK, 19/3/2014

Finding Kraak Gallery was an odd experience. Entering was an odd experience. Luckily, normality was restored when I managed to get a bottle of beer and take in opening band, Bastard of the Skies.

BOTS are a three piece from Blackburn. They purvey a sound that has elements of melody and harmonics, but ultimately they are a devastatingly heavy band that could easily be tagged as sludge metal; no bad thing. The bass rumbles and rolls over vicious drumming whilst the guitar sound brings dense and bombastic riffs. The band played to the assembling crowd which gave all their attention. A thirty minute set was continuous in its delivery. No break between tracks, or any in between song chat made for a relentless thirty minutes. As the set ended BOTS were greeted warmly by the gathering crowd.

Next up were Bast. A band that I personally was very excited to see again after their monstrously good turn at FOAD Fest in Manchester at the start of the month. Again taking a thirty minute slot, the band played a small chunk of their epic album; Spectres. Closing with album closer, Outside the Circles of Time, the band sounded stunning in their doom/black metal approach. Although the band relies heavily on these sounds there is so much more going on within the bands sound, the ethereal build up of the songs and the ability to segue between tempos seamlessly is a quality to be admired. With vocals being shared the diversity in the band is what is making them one band on the UK metal scene to really keep your eye on.

Arriving monumentally late for tonight’s gig, having battled with the idiocy of football night traffic, there is an almost tag team like segue into the next band, Dominic tapping me in, to cover review duties for the next two bands.  Disappointed to have missed BOTS set, having featured their luscious filth a number of times for The Sludgelord, I was rewarded with the tail end of Bast’s set.  The sound of the band mirrored that of their excellent Spectres album, slow bludgeoning riffs juxtaposed against the more aggressive black metal elements.  The band as a unit was an incredible proposition and with every future performance, based upon what I observed.  Bast has a great future ahead of them. 

Next up were Corrupt Moral Altar, a sound more akin to grind core, their approach is breakneck.  Guitars resonating like that of classic Wolverine Blues era, Entombed (when is that ever a bad thing), CMA were a tumultuous din from the outset.  The scything bombast of the drums, vocals akin to an S & M enthusiast ingesting glass for kicks, the band deliver frenetic and lacerating anthems.  Their set is a punishing experience, perhaps akin to a withdrawing from heroin, disagreeable, dissonant and harsh.   Their noise was often tangential at times, with the occasional slow beat down interspliced with the chaos, but at the root of it all, is a sound of extreme power violence.  Recently signed to Season of Mist, these noise terrorists are a revolutionary doctrine of destruction. 

Tonight, judging by the dense pummelling nature of this evening’s performance, Conan somehow manage to eclipse even their latest offering, Blood Eagle.  Live!  Conan, destroy.  Crown of Talons the lead track is a brilliant start, the opening riff sounding like Godzilla ploughing through a dense metropolis.  Paul O Neill’s drums have never sounded better, snapping like a ravenous fly trap ensnaring its prey, it is coma inducing stuff.  Indeed that is the measure of the whole evening.  This is power of damaging proportions, oppressive and elephantine. A seismic mass that would make even the Richter scale nervous.  A highlight as ever is the brilliant Hawk as a Weapon and tonight it does not disappoint, the only difference, that it has grown another set of balls.  Seriously you could almost drown in the distorted ether of sound.  Punishing stuff indeed.  A set comprising of Blood Eagle in its entirety, it is a measure of how confident Conan feel about their new material and who can argue, the record is incredible.  Slipping in like three hooded warriors from the Cimmerian wastelands, Conan unleashed their full arsenal upon us.  Abandoning all sense of control, Conan perform a method of torture and execution upon the Kraak Gallery tonight, The Blood Eagle!!  Breaking our ribs to resemble blood stain wings.  Tonight Conan, truly are barbarians and turn in a breathtaking and blisteringly HEAvy performance.  You have been warned.    

BOTS & BAST by : Dominic Walsh

CMA & Conan by : Aaron Pickford

For more information :

https://www.facebook.com/conandoom
https://www.facebook.com/CorruptMoralAltar
https://www.facebook.com/bastmusic
https://www.facebook.com/bastardoftheskies

Bastard Of The Skies - 'Tarnation' (Album Review)

By: Richard Maw

  

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 1/10/2012

Label: Future Noise

 

This album will evoke feelings of being kept in a very small, dark space knowing that at some point you will be pulled out to be involved in something very unpleasant indeed. That or it will make you feel like doing the same to someone else.  Highly recommended sludge with unseen twists and turns. Support them.

‘Tarnation’ CD//DD track Listing

1). Drug Monarch
2). A Punch in the Fucking Lungs
3). (Roasted in the Depths of the) Sloar
4). Bastard Sabbath
5). Tarnation
6). Repugnance
7). Bookatee Willalee
8). Locklear
9). Snapmare
10). What Are You Looking at Dicknose?

Bastard of the Skies is:

Matt Richardson | Guitar/Vocals
Rob Beesley | Guitar
Claire Horrocks | Bass
Matt Aldred | Drums

The Review

I must admit that I had never heard Bastard of the Skies until listening to this album. Let me tell you; I wish I had heard of them sooner! “Tarnation” is a beast, no doubt about it. There is a lot of depth within the ten tracks on offer here. The title fits the record well, being as the music contained therein is thick, fluid and very, very dark!

 Things kick off with ‘Drug Monarch’ and BOTS take the listener on a journey that begins with a groove ringing out and a fine use of instrumental dynamics. The vocals come through nice and clear with a throaty Matt Pike quality to them. The bass work underpins the whole thing effectively and often injects melody here and there when you least expect it.  Dynamics are used well in the second (and first standout!) track ‘A Punch In The Fucking Lungs’. The spoken vocal is plain sinister, while the sandpaper roar that follows creates a very claustrophobic feel that is a trademark of the record. The stop start riffs made me think of Helmet, perhaps oddly, while The Melvins influence can be heard elsewhere. The tension continues to build through ‘(Roasted in the depths of the) Sloar’. I love the way the band rings the changes over the seven and a half minutes- a sense of melancholy rather than anger seeps through the running time and this gives the album an extra dimension that lifts it beyond more straightforward sludge releases.

A special mention must go to Matt Aldred on drums as he makes excellent use of his kit throughout- and often lifts the tracks on offer with nifty tom, splash and china usage- but never forsakes the groove.  The brutal sludge continues through the album's mid-point. The bass tone alone makes the instrumental title track a nice bridge to the second half of the record.

The grooves on display through ‘Repugnance’, ‘Bookatee Willalee’ and ‘Locklear’ are very powerful indeed and give the listener a sense that the record is building towards something with unstoppable momentum. The pounding drums that propel ‘Snapmare’ are the final stepping stone to the superb (and superbly titled) ‘What Are You Looking At Dicknose’. The ten and a half minutes plus delivers the highpoint of the record and the track that the second half has built towards artfully. High and low vocals are traded as a more expansive sound takes over. The melody on display is subtle and does not take away from the sheer negativity that is conjured up. The snarled vocal towards the end is the poisonous icing on the cake. 

This album will evoke feelings of being kept in a very small, dark space knowing that at some point you will be pulled out to be involved in something very unpleasant indeed. That or it will make you feel like doing the same to someone else.  Highly recommended sludge with unseen twists and turns. Support them.

Band info: Bandcamp | Store | Facebook

Bastard Of The Skies & Catatomic "Split L.P" (Review)

By: Aaron Pickford

Album Type: Split 12inch

Date Released: 01/04/2012

Label: Speaks Volumes Records

‘Split LP’ LP//DD track Listing

Bastard of the Skies

1). Willalee Bookatee (02:27)

2). The Knuckles of Saint Bronson (3:58)

3). Grays Sports Almanac (3:49)

4). Human Skull (4:53)

5). Don't Let It Bring You Down  (3:51) (Neil Young Cover)

Catatomic

1). Void (11:07)

2). I Went To You (4:05)

The Review:

Over the years we have been blessed with a number of excellent sludge metal bands hailing from the UK; Iron Monkey, Helvis, and Raging Speedhorn to name but a few. Hailing from Blackburn, Lancashire, Bastard of the Skies are continuing that tradition and according their web page, their music is 'The soundtrack to drowning in a swap of your own shit'. The band have cemented their own sound by welding massive, lurching, riffs to sludgy noise and discordant melody.

Playing their own brand of discordant filth since 2006, what we have on offer here is another slab of no holds barred gut spewing filth. The 5 tracks we're presented with are quite simply, brutal! The opening track ‘Willalee Bookatee’, sets the tone for much of the record, with the opening blast of drums, kicking into their loathsome blend of piercing riffs, compounded by vocals which sound like a vicious attack on your senses.  The song is an example of unparalleled savagery, it is a wonderfully grisly. 2:27 of ear splitting audible torture and we love every second of it.

‘Grays Sports Almanac’ is another extraordinarily ugly and vicious beast, this is for me, some of the best sludge noise I am likely to hear this year and as heavy as hell. The metallic tone of the guitar is monumental and the song is easily some of best stuff they have ever produced.  There is not a second wasted on the tracks on offer here, they batter, bruise and pound you into submission, seemingly leaving your senses crushed into fragments.  ‘Human Skull’ is probably the slowest sludgiest track on the album. Sounding like the bastard (no pun intended) offspring of the Melvins, you can't fail to be impressed by the intensity and ferocity of the track.  Bastard of the skies deliver a dynamic and uncompromising blend of down tuned monster riffs, vicious vocals and brutal rhythms

With a new record entitled 'Tarnation' due for release sometime in the summer, this Split is the perfect appetiser.  They have created something hideously ugly, a monster that lurches for your jugular from beginning to end. It is not pleasant, however if like your music hard, heavy and ferocious, look no further and buy this record. I loved it. 

In terms of the reverse side, I found it difficult to review a band solely on a couple of songs, however once the opening assault and battery of the drums kick in , 'Void' bursts into life!  The opening minute and half of the song consists of droning low end bass and vintage doom sounding guitar, sliding between notes until the song lurches forward into a classic Electric Wizard sounding riff.  Simple and yet heavy, the song is seemingly based upon a fluid 4 bar chord sliding riff, interspersed with a 'Symptom Of The Universe' type acoustic guitar section and that is a feature of much of the song.  The song almost induces nausea due to the Ebb and flow of the track.  The vocals fit well with the track and they feel as if they are spoken, rather than sung and that style sits well with the track.  The song weighs in at a mammoth 11:07 and due in part to little variation to the track, it does feel like it outstays its welcome a little, however 'Void' is a fine example of a retro sounding doom track of days gone by. 

'I Went To You', is a track I have a little more difficulty with, it is curious in that it has a vibe which feels as if it was improvised.  An acoustic track and poles apart to 'Void', it wouldn't feel out of place on a Lou Reed record and feels a little off centre.  This is by no means a criticism of the band but in terms of material, the track doesn't feel as strong as 'Void' and left me feeling a little disappointed.   As I said earlier, I found it very difficult to judge this band solely on the two tracks on offer, however on evidence of the track 'Void', Catatomic do show they have potential and hopefully they will go on to create bigger and better things. 

This ‘Split LP’ is available here

Band info: Facebook | Big Cartel | Bandcamp