Gojira - "Magma" (Album Review)

By: Phil Weller

 

Alum Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/06/2016

Label:  Roadrunner Records

 

 



 

‘Magma’ is a record that envelopes you with its overtly dark drama, but within its haze, its crushing catharcism makes it one of the most special metal records to be released in some time.  It may not be the relentless assault many fans wanted from the album – and that’s not to say it is barren of those moments – yet, as a vehicle for emotional cleansing, as a eulogy and an obituary for a woman who shaped the personalities that drive this act, it is staggering.

 

“Magma” CD//DD//LP track listing:

 

1). The Shooting Star
2). Silvera
3). The Cell
4). Stranded
5). Yellow Stone
6). Magma
7). Pray
8). Only Pain
9). Low Lands
10). Liberation

 

The Review:

 

Wounded by their mother’s death, the Duplantier brothers have crafted in ‘Magma’ an album that is not only a natural progression of their technical and avant garde craftsmanship, but one that is haunted by dark emotions of loss and turmoil, it is an album choking in its emotional heaviness, haunted by the ghost of a maternal figure.

 

Surrounded in a thick, foreboding smog, the distinct lack of colour on the album’s greyscale cover bleeds into the solemn tracks presented here. Whether Joe Duplantier is asking his mother “when you get to the other side please send a sign” on sluggish eruptions of ‘The Shooting Star’ or to “tell me what you see in the afterlife,” on the brooding “Low Lands”, it’s clear that this episode of his life has left its scars. Here he vents and find catharsis within his music and lyricisms. For, while the musical highlights are plentiful – and diehard fans will be pleased to hear just how heavy it gets despite the sonic evolution that predecessor “L'Enfant Sauvage” hinted at – the true heaviness and magic comes from the blackened mournfulness that sears through the album. At points meditative, at others painfully vulnerable, ‘Magma’ is emotionally draining and crushing, which only adds further potency to their intrinsic and signature supernova musicality.

 

‘Silvera’, a song hinged on an off kilter, thumping riff – thrown off course by its discombobulating loop – is absolutely massive. With only two choruses, characterised by the kind of tapped legato guitar lick that we’ve come to expect from the French connoisseurs, they snake their way through the song with an explorative adventurism, throwing riff after riff at you in a barrage of out-and-out heaviness. ‘The Cell’ opens up with gunfire footwork from drummer Mario Duplantier’s ever exceptional double bass, a sharp, syncopated snare puncturing the mix before a riff that sounds like a castle collapsing in the dead of night takes over. Joel’s screams of “Get me out of here, I’ve been lost in the dark,” in it’s simplistic but driving chorus meanwhile shows a growing musical accessibility within their song writing framework. Akin to what Metallica did with ‘The Black Album’, the band are beginning to find more and more inventive ways of injecting anthemic and irresistible choruses into what they do without ever compromising their primal aggression. And this is no better exemplified on the one riff, classic in situ ‘Stranded’. Much of their technicality is here stripped away but the result is stunningly effective, it is a song with a staying power that, long after listening, still lingers in your head and heart.

 

Elsewhere, the title track is founded upon an obscure harmonic guitar melody that conjures a beguiling sense of unease. But they intersperse the weirdness with a refrain that is uplifting, meditative and spiritual. Only Gojira could have created this and, when it’s swinging, groove infested crescendo comes to the foray, preceded by some gorgeous bass melodies that hide in the mix, it becomes utterly convincing.

 

‘Low Lands’ however, takes from the blueprint of one of their most revered songs, ‘Flying Whales’. From the instant Mario’s shivering jazz infused beat begins the song is always building to a conclusion of catastrophic and apocalyptic heaviness. Yet they teasingly leave you waiting, each dynamic rise that quickens your heart and heightens your senses only drops once more. Again and again it builds and falls like the lapping of ocean waves. The seismic riff that does eventually greet you a tantalising reward for your patience, a moment of tidal mercilessness that very few bands in 2016 will be able to match.    

 

One major difference to ‘Magma’ is not within the music itself, however. The band has hand built, from the ground upwards, their own studios in New York and the resultant Silver Cord studio has given them total, expressive freedom on the record’s production. The result is a sound that is crystal clear, every kick drum, every heartbeat and breath that weaves through ‘Magma’ is simply unmissable. Vocally, on an album that showcases Joe  Duplantier’s vastly improved vocal abilities, he creates eerie atmospheres with choral backing slotted quietly, delicately under the rest of the mix. As far as the sound of the album is concerned, to say they’d found perfection for how to best convey themselves would not be hyperbole.

 

For Gojira, this surely wasn’t an easy album to finish. They were in the early phases of creating the record when their mother’s cancer diagnosis became a reality, derailing the process for long periods of time. But they have come out of the other side stronger, more emotionally in touch with their souls, spirits and minds than ever before. ‘Magma’ is a record that envelopes you with its overtly dark drama, but within its haze, its crushing catharcism makes it one of the most special metal records to be released in some time.

 

It may not be the relentless assault many fans wanted from the album – and that’s not to say it is barren of those moments – yet, as a vehicle for emotional cleansing, as a eulogy and an obituary for a woman who shaped the personalities that drive this act, it is staggering.

 

“Magma” will be available everywhere from 17/06/2016 and can be preorderd here

 

 



Band info: official || facebook



 

Kvelertak - "Nattesferd" (Album Review)

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/05/2016

Label: Roadrunner Records

There’s a lot to dig into with this new album, and plenty of ‘Nattesferd’ shows that Kvelertak can step outside of their normal comfort zone and the results have come up overwhelmingly positive. This album keeps the familiar, and adds new wrinkles throughout, to keep the album from feeling like a rerun. ‘Nattersferd’ is an album from a band still at a creative peak.

‘Nattesferd’ CD//LP//DD track listing:

1. Dendrofil for Yggdrasil

2. 1985

3. Nattesferd

4. Svartmesse

5. Bronsegud

6. Ondskapens Galakse

7. Berserkr

8. Heksebrann

9. Nekrodamus

Kvelertak is:

Erlend Hjelvik | Lead Vocals

Bjarte Lund Rolland | Guitar

Maciek Ofstad | Guitar

Vidar Landa | Guitar

Marvin Nygaard | Bass

Kjetil Gjermundrød | Drummer

The Review:

Kvelertak caught the world completely off guard in 2010. They’d put together a sound we hadn’t really heard before. It was black metal, punk, and classic rock melted together into something unique and undeniably fun. A ton of people understandably lost our minds about their debut, and it’ll likely be remembered as one of the great metal-related debuts of the decade. The follow up, ‘Meir’, was met with a bit more of a mixed reaction. Some felt it was a case of diminishing returns for a phenomenal original idea, and others thought it was every bit as good as its predecessor. Still, for some, the bloom was already off the rose.

That brings us to the present day, as Kvelertak return with album #3, ‘Nattesferd’. To be clear from the start: anyone who listens to this album and thinks Kvelertak are out of ideas needs to listen again, and actually pay attention this time. Do the band use certain stylistic elements from the first album as a foundation? Yes, of course they do. So do most bands this early into their discography. But the way they implement those stylistic traits has changed substantially over the course of six years.

If the album has any problem at all, it’s that it might have benefited some from stricter editing. “1985”, the album’s first single would have been even more effective at a minute or two shorter, and “Heskebrann” is too long at nine minutes. Then again, the first two albums would probably benefit from the same virtue, in retrospect. But, when an album’s biggest issue is giving us too much of a good, thing, it’s hard not to call it an artistic success.

It’s been an absolute joy to experience as Kvelertak have sharpened their song writing skills over the last half decade. The album’s opening track, “Dendrofil for Yggdrasil”, showcases the band’s penchant for speedy black metal with major key twists and a nod to the quirkiness of the Moonfog-style guitar work. “Nattesferd” is a major highlight, which sees the band work a song in the vein of “Spring Fra Livet” from ‘Meir’ and shape it to fit the framework of some the faster songs from Queens of the Stone Age’s “Songs for the Deaf”. “Nekrodamus” sticks out, at least in the Kvelertak discography, for having a laidback, older Witchcraft feel to it, showing the band doesn’t want or need to over-rely on keeping things uptempo in order to be satisfying.

The point is, there’s a lot to dig into, and plenty of ‘Nattesferd’ shows that Kvelertak can step outside of their normal comfort zone and the results have come up overwhelmingly positive. This album keeps the familiar, and adds new wrinkles throughout, to keep the album from feeling like a rerun. ‘Nattersferd’ is an album from a band still at a creative peak.

You can pick up a digital, CD or LP copy here. 

Band info: Facebook

Wild Throne - 'Harvest of Darkness’ (Album Review)

By: Phil Weller

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/10/2015

Label: Roadrunner Records

Alongside the ingenuities and provocative pieces from ‘Blood Maker’ ‘I Of The Prism’ is another scintillating highlight. It’s brazen guitar work and searing vocal lines force a real sense of horripilation upon you, you don’t so much as listen to this as you do experience it. It’s structure is a labyrinth of crazed punk drumming, a really atmospheric but menacing ,reverb drenched instrumentation and enough melody to blind a unicorn.

‘Harvest of Darkness’ CD//DD track listing:

01 – “Harvest Of Darkness”
02 – “Shadow Deserts”
03 – “Fear Yourself”
04 – “Lone Lust”
05 – “Death Of A Star”
06 – “Blood Maker”
07 – “I Of The Prism”
08 – “War Is A Romance”
09 – “Born To Die”
10 – “The Wrecking Ball Unchained”
11 – “Trans”

The Review:

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. A road worn guitar, paint stripped and scratched, cocaine pocked in the rusted Seymour Duncan humbuckers, is placed into its casket and lowered into the ground. Tears fall too, slaves to gravity that congregate on the earth like a pack of wolves. Rock is dead.  Gene Simmons has spoken; a man who has drained every conceivable penny out of his ‘brand’ and is the embodiment of the genre’s industrialisation.

Adding fuel to the fire too – or should that be cremation? – is Germanic powerhouse and Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann. He states that he wouldn’t start a band in this contemporary climate, where bands are given little chance to reach the upper echelons of an ever aging and shrinking group of festival headliners and elite bands – his band being one of these Stonemasons.  In that sense then, the fairy tale happenings of Bellingham, Washington three piece Wild Throne shouldn’t exist, it should be exactly that – a fairy tale, an augmented take on reality where everything is hunky dory. There is no room for ascension when the royal court is a dilapidating mess, brought to ruin by the industrialisation of an art form once full of expression, passion and, ultimately, success through global notoriety and financial gain.

Yet, 16 months after releasing their three track debut EP, ‘Blood Maker’, a collection of dastardly pompous, outrageous but ultimately thrill seeking rock n’ roll, they’ve signed a deal with Roadrunner Records and are on the verge of releasing one of the best debut long players in years. They came, one of the biggest and most prolific labels and creators of champions and now they are poised to conquer. And fuck it, I’m gonna buy the t-shirt. They have my money. Wild Throne are everything messers Simmons and Lindemann said were paucity. Or perhaps they’re the last of a dying breed. Regardless, this is their moment to savour. 

To that effect, ‘Harvest of Darkness’ stands tall, proud and defiant, belying a transfixing modernity and artistic determination for their compositions to be like a skyline on Guy Fawkes Night: Full of explosions, bursts of light and vibrant colour and boasting a pure, illuminated majesty that is so wonderfully juxtaposed by the blackness it calls its canvas. The whole record flows reverently, it’s current gripping your ankles no matter how hard you may try to fight it. There’s a beating heartbeat which you can feel and hear throughout. Where there are changes in tempo, where passages are jagged and threatening or sweetly serene still that pulsating heartbeat sounds. The album is alive.

In many ways this album is the future. I mean, our elder statesmen are right really, bands don’t clamber up the league tables like they used to. It took Avenged Sevenfold 15 years of hard slog to be honoured with a headline slot at Donnington for instance – 14 for Slipknot – and even then there were the naysayers who questioned their stature and ability to handle such a task. But times are changing too. These days, albums and the bands that create them are single standing entities; there are few real movements that generate the momentum to make a collective cultural impact like the flower power movement of the 60s or the thrash invasion of the 1980s.  But it’s weird how, in a time where we seem to find offense in everything and anything, music never manages to truly shock us anymore, to never really inspire that emotive surge where we the people join together and make a band heroes. It’s all been done before as far as revolution and button pushing is concerned – the closet we’ve come to that in recent times is arguably dubstep. So yes, perhaps the true forcefulness of rock n’ roll is dead, we can’t spark anything overtly sensational through crunching guitars and well penned lyrics anymore but we can still appreciate a good album when it regurgitates down your lug’oles and ‘Harvest of Darkness’ is one of the best. You’ll struggle to hear a more rounded and exquisitely executed release this year.  Considering that this is a debut full length release that achievement only becomes more remarkable.

Alongside the ingenuities and provocative pieces from ‘Blood Maker’ which are included again on this release – and deservedly so, let the music do the talking with those – ‘I Of The Prism’ is another scintillating highlight. It’s brazen guitar work and searing vocal lines force a real sense of horripilation upon you, you don’t so much as listen to this as you do experience it. Its structure is a labyrinth of crazed punk drumming, a really atmospheric but menacing, reverb drenched instrumentation and enough melody to blind a unicorn. The maze then leads you straight to the heart of the emphatic, anthemic lead single ‘War Is A Romance’.

Across the track’s frenetic, as-chaotic-as-a-bouncy-ball-launched-into-a-tiny-rubber-lined-room length, you pass through so many dimensions, musical references, gorgeous, spine-tingling nuances and insatiable fury. It stops you dead in your tracks. From the Motörhead styled, foot-to-the-accelerator openings, to Mastodon like pummelling’s later on down the line, betwixt solos that twist and scream like one of Jack the Ripper’s vulnerable and squeamish victims, it’s a song that has more than affirmed my already well established love for this band. Their oeuvre is simply devastating. 

The bastard love child The Mars Volta, Glassjaw, Coheed & Cambria and Muse, while undertones of punk rock angst and power, it’s easy to see their standpoint from an ideological stance. Piecing the intricacies and nuances together however is a much trickier affair, but this is a release which basks in the bafflement it causes. Soaring choruses and vocal work – with many lyrical themes touching upon the human condition, its strengths and its weaknesses, its failings and its beauty – are the icing on the cake however. They give the bigger picture a much sweeter and addictive coating. ‘Lone Lust’ is delicate meanwhile. Quieter mostly, more experimental with the dynamic depth and diversity at their disposal, you cans see themselves pushing their creative aesthetic, feeling where the boundaries to their strengths and capabilities lie. There is, I must add, enough room to swing a tiger within those confines. 

It all ends with ‘Trans,’ a barrage of spasmodic rhythms, Josh Holland going hell for leather on his whammy pedal with it all coming across so vulgar and messy but in the best possible way. Their sound is huge, thanks in part to all that reverb, and there is a real depth to it which swallows you like a whale shark will to whichever poor creatures just so happen to cross its path at the wrong time.  So lay your flowers on the turf and wipe your cheek one last time. Hell, say a few sorrowful words if you have to. Rock is dead and this is its funeral. Question is; why does it sound so damn good?

‘Harvest of Darkness’ is available here

FFO: The Mars Volta, Glassjaw, Coheed & Cambria and Muse

Band info: official | facebook

Wild Throne - 'War Is A Romance (Single Review)



Review:

Just over a year has passed since I was left gushing over Washington trio Wild Throne’s stunning and bombastic ‘Blood Maker EP’ here at The Sludgelord. This website is, quite rightly, inundated with some gloriously good music, crossing a multitude of styles and showing just how rude and healthly the scene is currently in. It’s inspiring to see. There are literally thousands of bands vying for our attention week in, week out, so it has to take something special to catch our imagination – and more importantly here, mine specifically. But Wild Throne’s ‘Blood Maker EP’ did exactly that. Now the troupe have returned, fresh from penning a deal with Roadrunner Records – a mean and well deserved fete in itself – with a blistering new single, ‘War Is Romance.’

Across the tracks frenetic, as-chaotic-as-a-bouncy-ball-launched-into-a-tiny-rubber-lined-room length, you pass through so many dimensions, musical references, gorgeous, spine-tingling nuances and insatiable fury. It stops you dead in your tracks. From the Motörhead styled, foot-to-the-accelerator openings, to Mastodon like pummelling’s later on down the line, betwixt solos that twist and scream like one of Jack the Ripper’s vulnerable and squeamish victims, it’s a song that has more than affirmed my already well established love for this band.

Previously known as Dog Shredder, the new song, the first monster to rear its ugly head from their forthcoming album ‘Heart of Darkness,’ gives you a snapshot of what this band is. It’s all over the place – flirting with the sounds of the aforementioned artists alongside the likes of Converge, Mars Volta, Muse and the Dillinger Escape Plan – yet at the same time, it couldn’t be more fluent. It picks you up and shuttles you through an intimidating sonic space time continuum that, quite literally, takes your breath away.

At times, frontman Josh Holland’s vocal replicate that of Matt Bellamy’s schizophrenic and maniacal octave jumps – only if Matt had had an ounce of cocaine burst in his stomach, causing him to thrash about the place in a full-blooded adrenaline craze.

“Humans tend to seek out both love and war instinctively,” Holland has stated on the topic of War Is Romance’s lyrical theme. “Rather than thinking of them as opposites, I wanted to suggest that the intensities of violence and passion actually share more similarities than differences. That the hunger to fight is some sort of inner romance. We lust for it.”

‘Harvest of Darkness’ is released August 18th via Roadrunner Records. If this lead track is anything to go by, it promises to be a record to kick a boot up the arse of their already dizzying ascent.

Words: Phil Weller

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/wildthrone | https://wildthrone.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/wildthrone

Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 21/10/2014

Label: Roadrunner Records

“.5: The Gray Chapter CD/DD/LP track listing:

1). XIX

2). Sarcastrophe

3). Aov

4). The Devil In I

5). Killpop

6). Skeptic

7). Lech

8). Goodbye

9). Nomadic

10). The One That Kills the Least

11). Custer

12). Be Prepared For Hell

13). The Negative One

14). If Rain Is What You Want

The Band:

(#8) Corey Taylor | vocals

(#7) Mick Thomson | guitars, bass

(#6) Shawn "Clown" Crahan | percussion, backing vocals

(#5) Craig "133" Jones | sampling, keyboards

(#4) Jim Root | guitars, bass

(#3) Chris Fehn | percussion, backing vocals

(#0) Sid Wilson | turntables

Review:

Slipknot has always been a band that divides opinion; legitimate extreme metal band or a pop act masquerading as one, appealing to angst ridden teens? The debate has raged for years, but there’s no doubt, they are here to say. 

In 1999 the successful “metal” bands were inexplicably trying to be Puff Daddy (Hedpe, Limp Bizkit), New Romantic (Orgy), and let’s not even discuss the abomination that was Coal Chamber (just rubbish). It was Korn who unleashed this tidal wave of shit, the remnants of whose musical sewage, reminds me of those oil covered birds you see on the news, after some oil disaster or another.

So, when Slipknot’s debut came out – It really did bring extreme metal back to the mainstream. Brutal – death / thrash infused riffs based on pure aggression and in Joey Jordison, a world class drummer who could match Dave Lombardo.  Slipknot were a band who could actually PLAY and in fairness to them, put on a hell of a stage show.  Indeed, they ended the extreme metal draught that ended after the heyday of Pantera and Sepultura; they were NOT, to be fair, without merit.

So here we are, fifteen years later, with “.5: The Gray Chapter”. Much has been written about the death of Bassist Paul Gray and the departure of drummer Joey Jordison and their contributions (the two of them wrote Iowa alone) and whether they can operate without them.  So, is this album as good as Slipknot fans could hope for? Everything is in place; fast technical riffs, double bass pedals and some TRULY monumental breakdowns (the mid section of “Skeptic” onwards is literally one of the best things I’ve heard this year.)

The previously under used electronics even form the basis for some of the songs here, as found on “Goodbye” and “Killpop”, the latter of which has a great chorus which refrains from becoming predictable and descends into a barrage of almost Dillinger esque drumming by the end. Undoubtedly, a lot of effort has been put into this album for sure, everything is very precise, and the harmonies work well and are in places unsettling, Corey Taylor’s voice the most aggressive since “Iowa”.

This release is the first with new members (maybe / maybe not Jay Weinberg and Cry for Silence / Krokodil guitarist Alessandro Venturella) who fit in perfectly. The former is not as good as Jordison who had far more authority in his playing, and I feel he added much more power to their sound, but that being said the album does not suffer as a result. He does an admirable job of filling in and adds some interesting off beats and cymbal work whilst keeping within Jordison’s framework. The other guys, er, do stuff in the background somewhere I think. This is easily better than the last album and I cannot imagine Slipknot fans being disappointed in the slightest.

Now for the downsides, for every element of extremity, there have always been counterpoints to this band. For every double bass pedal avalanche, an auto tuned chorus, for every blast, an almost nursery rhyme style chant, for every inhuman roar, a tune blatantly made for radio.  At first the riffs and the heaviness ARE impressive. Corey Taylor’s vocals sound much more vicious than ten years ago and they clearly feel they have a point to prove. The first couple of listens took me aback in places, but even then I knew what my reservations were going to be and was proved right.

For me the polished production and attempts to mimic how feral they actually sounded when they first came out are almost like unconvincing replicas, polished by Pro Tools. This kind of music is supposed to be hideous and aggressive, not polished and clean

Another problem is the switch between being extreme and throwing in a section you can imagine someone’s dad dancing to. The track “Custer” – starts off at such a blistering pace it’s almost overwhelming.  Unfortunately it  drops down to an angst style mumble from Corey, before breaking into a lowest common denominator Chorus of “Cut Cut Cut me up and Fuck Fuck Fuck me up” which screams of Goth kids trying to upset their parents. The addition of a siren when the drums break to half time actually make me think of a Clown (yes yes) turning up in his car at the circus. It’s actually laughable and almost embarrassing.   And the tempo of the verse riff to “The Negative One” reminds me of The Proclaimers “I would walk 500 Miles.” A friend of mine commented on how one track could run for Christmas number one, although unsure which, it’s not a good indication!

It’s a shame as there is a lot that IS good about this album, and about this band, but at the same time it is flawed with elements that I personally can’t get on board with. If you want genuine Death Metal, go and listen to the new Revocation album, or Cannibal Corpse. If you want huge grooves and blasting, Nails. And if you want claustrophobia, Paranoia and general negativity, Celeste do it better.  Maybe I’m just being a cynical old man, grumbling over his obscure underground bands and  - to an extent that is true, but it just seems like an  approximation of other music that is done so much better elsewhere. Seriously kids, listen to the old man in the corner here.

That all being said you can guarantee that they will sell billions on this one. Slipknot fans are definitely not going to be disappointed – they have taken some musical chances and I can see some of the choruses becoming long established metal classics in the future for sure, and if my possibly unjustified gripes do not ring true for you, then I’m sure you will find a lot to enjoy about it.

Its 6/10 album for me, but then again I’m a miserable old bastard.

Words by: Chris Wilson

You can purchase this record everywhere now

For more information:

http://www.slipknot1.com/

https://www.facebook.com/slipknot

https://twitter.com/slipknot

Down - IV Pt.II EP (Review)

Album Type : EP

Date Released : 13/5/2014

Label : Roadrunner Records

DOWN IV - PART II, track listing :

1. Steeple 05:45
2. We Knew Him Well 04:04
3.  Hogshead/Dogshead 03:52
4. Conjure 08:31
5. Sufferer's Years 05:37
6. Bacchanalia  08:54

The Band :

Philip Anselmo | Vocals

Pepper Keenan | Guitars

Bobby Landgraf | Guitars

Pat Pruders | Bass

Jimmy Bower | Drums

Review :

Plan is / was for these EPs to take on different forms of heavy, I once read Pepper Keenan say in an interview. Last one was some traditional Down shit, and I'm pretty sure he said that the main inspiration for the second volume (this very one that I am covering right here) was some of that straight up doom devotion that the band is known to foster. Now either I made that up, I got it wrong, they released the wrong one ahead of schedule, or I am completely right.

Pretty sure it's option four.

It doesn't happen often, but when it does I like to be vindicated to the sound of a band like Down playing a fairly doom influenced outing. Not some modern, slow paced thing (although that is fine by me) but the more traditional 70s rock kind. Possibly pioneered by some band from Birmingham.

Lead release / single this time around is 'We Knew Him well'. It was the first taste we had of new material, and it makes sense as an ideal showcase given the overall tone of the EP. Classic collapsing riffs that Down are known for, but focusing on the darker energies that maybe haven't really seen the light of day since way back when on '...Hedgerow'. That was a truly dark album with classic influences, and this track would not be out of place on that particular slab of drug fuelled haze - my personal favourite of all their back catalogue. Amazing how they are evoking the spirit of that time and most of them are clean cut boys these days. Being well behaved is not without merit, it would appear.

'Conjure' is again right out of the handbook of that band from Brum, but when has that ever been a bad thing? The adventures of four working class men with a flair for the occult and some weed have stood the test of time for a reason. There is an almost blues essence to be found here, Anselmo's voice only increases in commanding presence with age. That Bower power is set to loose and he lets it all hang out, but most notable is the fact those riffs do not suffer at all for the loss of Windstein. Bobby Landgraf steps up to the plate and most definitely deserves that promotion. He more than keeps up with Keenan and that all important chemistry remains intact. Great tune.

No slouching. None considered. None allowed. They didn't get to where they are today by slacking off, and they continue to be fresh out of gum. I probably prefer this to the last one (apart from 'Levitation', I fucking LOVE that jam) and I had my worries headed in about the absence of the beard of doom this time around. But they march on in relentless fashion, like the disciples of the riff that they are. The plan of attack with this string of four EPs remains the same: Leave 'em wanting more.

They still compel me.

Words by : Matt Fitton

You can get it everywhere now, in just about every format. 

For more  information :

http://www.facebook.com/down

http://www.down-nola.com/

http://twitter.com/downnola

http://www.youtube.com/downnolacom