Barbarian Fist - The Whorelord Cometh (Album Review)

Album Type: Full-length

Date Released: May 28th 2015

Label: Self Released

The Whorelord Cometh - Track Listing:

1.The Whorelord Cometh 09:35

2.No Brakes on the Rape Train 09:07

3.Wargasm 09:48

4.Bear Destroyer 12:27

Members:

Alexander Mora - Guitars & Vocals

Per Georg Krokstad - Bass

Petter Haukaas – Drums

Bio:

Hailing from the glorious cesspit known as Oslo, Norway, Barbarian Fist is here to make the world a little less civilized and a bit more foul smelling. Consisting of equal parts downtuned fuzz guitar, used up riffs, and sexual innuendo, this power trio strives to make music that will make you less inclined to take a bath, more likely to ingest large amounts of beer, as well as instantly grow a magnificent beard(regardless of gender).

Review:

BARBARIAN FIST. That would probably sum up this album perfectly in two words that conjure a sonic pillaging of my eardrums. In the interest of good reading I will expand however, I stand firm that this band name is a very fitting description of what heard. The first track, “The Whorelord Cometh” dropped the fuzz from the starting gate. Dirty riff and heavy drum intro. This track sounds like a lost cut from Sleep’s masterpiece Dopesmoker. This track has a great amount of sludge but still enough speed to keep it heavy. The drums expand out of the basic groove to deliver some nice tom fills that rise above the swirling guitars.

Track two…”No Brakes On The Rape Train”. Yep. Sounds just like that. Once again, my obligation to a decent read leads me to write a few words about this track. In my years of listening to heavy music, you think I would have learned a few lessons. One of these lessons is that when a track starts off with a lighter bluesy guitar intro, DON’T TURN UP THE VOLUME. Well I did and then the band came in with another sonic raid. I love bands with dynamics. Barbarian Fist knows how to make this happen on a dime. This track is 9 minutes of straight tone and dynamics.

“Wargasm” follows suit with a track filled with the same assault into some grooving heavy blues back into assault. “Bear Destroyer” comes in with a drone of feedback and builds into several movements. This track transitions to heavy swamp groove to tight blues riffs back to a decreasing sludge outro.

Barbarian Fist shows some great musicianship on this album but really hones in on the tightness as a group. This album delivers a great lesson for bands to remember that the sum of the parts is greater. The bass tone is deep and filled with great lines. The guitar is full of variety and ventures into some great tonal territory. The drums are driving and use the whole kit to give that intensity that many heavy bands have missing today. Combining of these elements, in a live tracked album, show the band’s strengths residing in their collective heaviness. Or I could sum up this band in two words…BARBARIAN FIST.

Words by Rick Fogarty

Thanks to Barbarian Fist for the promo. The Whorelord Cometh is now available to buy on DD/Vinyl from BandCamp now.

For More Information

Facebook | BandCamp

OBESE - KALI YUGA (Album Review)

Album Type: Album

Date Released: June 01^st 2015

Label: Argonauta Records

Kali Yuga - Track Listing:

01 - Enion

02 - Rite Of Fire

03 - Kali Yuga

04 - The Bitter Blast

05 - Red As The Sun

06 - Steamroller

07 - Down The Gauntlet

08 - Bow

09 - Begetter Dead Letter

Bio:

OBESE hail from Holland, they are authors of a crunchy, catchy, powerful and above all heavy as hell sound! Bringing the groove back into stoner and feeding your appetite with fat tunes that will leave you hungry for more. The weight and thickness of sound is being explored one track at a time: corpulency never felt that good. The immense riffage in a vast landscape of bulldozing euphony will leave nobody unsatisfied.

Review:

Sometimes a band gets locked into a certain sound or feel for an album. Obese is not this band. This four-piece from The Netherlands has released a heavy sonic maze that weaves and wanders through tones, tempos, and vocals. Trying to guess the feel of the next song is not worth the time. This album, Kali Yuga, has break-apart fuzz for the sludge heads and driving blues riffs for the fans of classic stoner jams.

The first track “Enion” starts with a punch to the chest from what may be the heaviest vocals I have heard from modern heavy bands. Combined with heavy toms and blasts of fuzz from the guitars, you get a feel of what this band is offering up. The riffs that develop at the end of this track show that Obese has some chops and can use them.

“Rite Of Fire” throws the first of many change-ups on this album. For fans of more modern stoner vibes, this track has a bit more of a modern feel. The track has a quicker tempo with all the heavy guitar tones you would expect from the opening track. I began to see some a glimpse of influence from some of the classic desert bands (Kyuss, early Fu Manchu). The title track, “Kali Yuga” and “The Bitter Blast” gave proof that the early stoner/desert bands played a part in Obese’s sound. “Red As The Sun” is one of the tracks on this album that stood out. It has all the parts of a song that got me excited to hear new bands. The riff on track opens with is as heavy and fuzzed-out groove as I have heard in a long time. The song transforms with some heavy drums in the middle and comes right back to that sweet riff.

The final tracks on the album, “Steamroller”, “Down The Gauntlet”, and “Bow”, have a heavier and more classic sludge vibe but stills show a bit more of a swampy blues feel with some touches of prog-rock. The final track, “Begetter Dead Letter,” threw the final change-up with a sludge jam that wrapped this album up the way it began by leaving you guessing. The track is unapologetic and dark in its guitar tone and rhythm section with a nod to some Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath.

Kali Yuga showcases Obese’s ability to take multiple influences and use it to create a flowing, calculated record. Some bands tend to try this but usually end up with weaker tracks taking a back seat to the stronger ones. Kali Yuga delivers on each track and still maintains strength in each song’s individualism. I am definitely looking forward to seeing them live and hope they can capture the album’s strength on stage.

Words by Rick Fogarty

Thanks To Barbara at NeeCee Agency and Gero at Argonauta Records for promo. Kali Yuga will be available to buy from June 1st 2015.

For More Information

Facebook | BandCamp