TOP 16 ALBUMS: THE SLUDGELORD'S SOUR 16 (August / September 2018)

Allow yourself to indulge in a hefty dose of riffs; because it is time to present 16 of the best albums from August & September, it is time for your SOUR 16. 

You know the drill by now, every couple of months you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top16 records, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, THE SOUR 16 are the records that have been trending the most at SLUDGELORD HQ.

The results are compiled based on the amount of page views the reviews have received and are then calibrated into the list below.  All reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and we have included album streams wherever possible. (Total views since their publication are highlighted brackets)

16). Craft, “White Noise and Black Light” (387)

15). Clutch, “Book of Bad Decisions” (399)

14). Satan, “Cruel Magic” (425)

13). 1968, “Ballads of the Godless” (437)

12). Organ Dealer/Nerve Grind/Invertebrate, “Split” (442)

11). Allfather, “And All Will Be Desolation” (481)

10). Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, “Come & Chutney” (503)

9). Brant Bjork, “Mankind Woman” (549)

8). Forming The Void, “Rift” (550)

7). Sumac, “Love in Shadow” (662)

6). Thou, “Magus” (791)

5). The Secret, “Lux Tenebris” (1100)

4). Kurokuma, “Dope Rider” (1272)

3). Conan, “Existential Void Guardian” (1910)

2). Famye, “Famyne” (2561)

1). KEN mode, “Loved” (2776)

ALBUM REVIEW: Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, "Come & Chutney"

By Andrew Field

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/07/2018

Label: Riff Rock Records

 “Come & Chutney” is remarkable in so many ways, but perhaps most tellingly when the album ends you want to both play it again and go see one of their shows immediately. With no flab to be found on it, and packed with hooks which will lodge in your brain for months, “Come and Chutney” is damn near perfect.

“Cum & Chutney” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Doggy Bag Of Slurry

2). Krones Of The Kiln

3). Cojones Feos

4). Glue Ear

5). Gutlads

6). Gawdless

7). Doner Trump

8). Psychedelic Hallucinogenic Vagrancy

The Review:

Watching Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters live is a truly life affirming experience. Few other bands lock in and groove like they do. Built on the thunderous rhythm section of drummer Mark Buckwell and four stringer Will Hart, with frontman Owen Karty laying ocean-sized fuzzed-up riffs and gravelly vowel-mangling vocals over the top, their sheer sonic power is matched by their fierce tie-die t-shirt and corpse-painted stage presence.

Whilst their debut 2015 EP “Earth Hog” was a sterling effort, it served more as a momento of their live shows than anything. Their songs on the 2017 “Special Split” with Ten Foot Wizard likewise. And so, one was left wondering if Chubby were to be one of those bands who never quite caught their onstage majesty on vinyl.

All such fears are swept away after just one play of “Come & Chutney”, and after several spins it’s clear the trio have created something quite special. We’re talking “candidate for album of the year” levels of goodness here. From the opening riff of “Doggy Bag Of Slurry” onwards, the Chubbs deliver 8 slabs of buzzsaw boogie and achieve the remarkable feat of making them all killer with no absolutely no filler.

Every track packs a punch and is an ear worm: we’re talking 40-odd minutes of vim, four-to-the-floor swagger, drug and kebab love, and a good old go at Donald Trump. Immaculately captured by Sam Thredder in his Cro’s Nest studio, Buckwell’s bass drum is constantly battering your head and driving each seismic anthem forward. Hart’s bass rumbles and thunders. Karty’s guitars are constantly set to stun. When Chubby properly hit their stride, on the majestic “Krones Of The Kiln”, they sound like the bastard offspring of ZZ Top circa ”Rhythmeen”. Only better.

The best is left to last. Closing 10-minute wig-out “Psychedelic Hallucinogenic Vagrancy” turns off the fuzz and ramps up the heavy psych, starting with a beautifully plucked guitar motif then building through to an explosive organ-led finale featuring guests Chantal Brown of Vodun and Gary Harkin of Ten Foot Wizard. The song reeks of weed and sounds like 1969.

“Come & Chutney” is remarkable in so many ways, but perhaps most tellingly when the album ends you want to both play it again and go see one of their shows immediately. With no flab to be found on it, and packed with hooks which will lodge in your brain for months, “Come and Chutney” is damn near perfect.

“Come & Chutney” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

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.



Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters - Earth Hog (Album Review)

Album Type: Album

Date Released: 05^th February 2015

Label: Self Released

Earth Hog – Track Listing

1.Earth Hog 06:45

2.Chopsticks and Bad Meatballs 04:12

3.Devil's Buttermilk 04:40

4.Mother Chub 06:52

5.Riff Richard 05:52

Bio

Please insert relevant bio with catchy descriptive nouns to entice people to listen to your music"

Also why not add a quote from someone who writes for a really small magazine or blog like

" these guys are (insert words here) combining (..insert fusions of music styles & genres here) with the originality of (….insert other hash tag lines that people will seem somewhat impressed here…)"

Barry Mc No one * editor at wanky blogs.cum

Featuring "that ginger wanker" from dopefight, the "camden Hippie Goth" from witchfist and "Steven Segal's drum tech & pony tail buffer/Vin Diesel's tank top tailor" from mama moonshine...have come together to create blah blah fuckin blah!!!

Members

Will (c)H(ubby)art- four strings // wah

Owen C(hubby)arty- six strings // throats // keys

Mark (chu)B(by)uckwell - drums // cowbells // triangles

Review:

When I settled down to listen to “Earth Hog” by Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters for the first time I had an inkling that I wasn’t in for a progressive post rock concept album in four movements. Turns out that I was right, as what we have here is five tracks of balls-out, full-party, filthy, stoner rock that will take you from clean shaven to massive dirty beard in just under 30 minutes.

If the idea of a band combining the good time stoner rock of Fu Manchu and the darker, nastier sounds of Weedeater with a hybrid of John Garcia and Matt Pike on vocals sounds like a great idea, CTBKM are the band you’ve been waiting for. Consisting of members of fine current and former bands such as Dopefight, Grey Widow and Witchfist, you know that you are in safe hands here.

Roaring into life with the title track, every song here is roughly five minutes of sleazy, fuzzy riffs of all shapes and sizes, traversing twists and turns you don’t normally expect from this kind of music. Rarely do things slow down below a breakneck pace, exhibited particularly well by the exhilarating, high-octane intro to “Chopsticks and Bad Meatballs”. Finale “Riff Richard” takes a bit of a breather, beginning at a sedate tempo. This doesn’t last long though as the band put pedal to metal once more and lock into a Children of the Grave-style galloping chug before you know it. If you aren’t already sold on the idea of CTBKM, the liberal use of cowbell and bass wah throughout should be enough to win over sceptics.

Full respect to Sam Thredder too, fresh from making Earthmass’ recent “Collapse” sound galactically crushing he works his production magic again here to make everything sound suitably Chubby. Hopefully this album will get a full physical, preferably vinyl, release soon as it’s an intoxicating blast of infectious dirty rock’n’roll that deserves to be heard far and wide.

Words by Charlie Butler

Thanks to Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters for the promo. Earth Hog is available to buy now.

For More Information:

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