TRACK PREMIERE: NIGHTFUCKER deliver aural evisceration on "Death Beset"

By: Eeli Helin

We at THE SLUDGELORD are extremely delighted to present to you the first single from the upcoming debut album by NIGHTFUCKER. These Canadian sludge/doom rooted organ twisters are led by none other than Dominic Finnbow, formerly known from the Lovecraftian UK sludge titans that was known as Moss. After relocating over the Atlantic, Finnbow summoned a new set of mire dwelling lunatics around him and forged the demon that is with us today. NIGHTFUCKER have meticulously explored the deepest and most atrocious sewers of humanity over the last decade, yet the band has released only one demo as a self-produced cassette, titled "Foul Omens" prior to crafting their debut full-length, now getting it's release through Sentient Ruin and Rope or Guillotine.

While the odiously depicted creation process took a long time, all the suffering, anguish and hate is audible. The first single track, "Death Beset" clocks in at over eleven minutes, and encapsulates the album well in all it's eulogised misery. The atmosphere is very unforgiving, hypnotising loops are broken ever so often with more driving, beating rhythms that'll make you gasp and twitch. If you're close with the lead figures past works, you'll notice familiar resonances here and there, but it goes without saying that NIGHTFUCKER  is a being of it's own. That being is a disgusting, bruised entity with a crust of filth obtained from the aforementioned expeditions to the deepest ends of this planets cesspits. 

Their self titled debut will be released on July 12th and is available to preorder via Sentient Ruin (USA/ROW) HERE and Rope or Guillotine (Europe) HERE Give "Death Beset" a listen below with the volume maxed out and watch your speaker die. 

ALBUM REVIEW: Friendship - "Hatred"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 03/11/2017

Label: Southern Lord Records |

Daymare Recordings | Sentient Ruin

Laboratories

Over the course of twenty five crushing minutes, the band show they have honed their potent blend of crust, powerviolence, grind and sludge to deadly perfection. “Hatred” feels like burying your face in a bowl of razorblades while being kicked in the stomach.

“Hatred” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Rejected

2). Regiside

3). Corrupt

4). Tortures

5). Compton

6). Grief

7). Life Sentence

8). Blue Berry

9). Execution

10). Dirtbags

11). El Chapo

12). Treason

The Review:

The dust has barely settled from my recent exposure to Friendship’s facemelting EP compilation. The Tokyo wrecking crew have wasted no time in releasing their debut LP “Hatred”, a relentless assault on the senses that cements their position as the current masters of all things short, fast and horrible.

Over the course of twenty five crushing minutes, the band show they have honed their potent blend of crust, powerviolence, grind and sludge to deadly perfection. There is a new found clarity and gut-churning heaviness to their bludgeoning onslaught. This has resulted in a marginally less raw and chaotic experience than before but still feels like burying your face in a bowl of razorblades while being kicked in the stomach.

“Rejected” and “Regicide” open the record in furious fashion like a warp-speed Iron Lung. Both tracks feature carefully deployed bursts of squealing feedback like a lead instrument, particularly powerful during the cacophonous climax of the latter. “Life Sentence” and “Blue Berry” find Friendship mixing in punishing, chug-heavy sludge riffs in amongst the high octane punk mayhem that bring an intoxicating air of hardcore brutality. The bands interest in the heavier and slower side of life is most evident in the monstrous “Corrupt”, a low tempo bruiser that bristles with Eyehategod/Noothgrush sludge attitude.

A re-recorded version of “Compton” from the band’s debut EP makes an appearance at the LPs mid-point. It is significantly burlier than its predecessor and encapsulates all that makes Friendship great in two minutes. Fret-mangling noise rock riffs lead to passages of exhilarating knuckle-dragging simplicity, a perfect balance of innovation and primal no-frills punk rock.

With “Hatred”, Friendship have delivered in style on the immense promise of their early work.

“Hatred” is available here

Band info: bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Friendship - "I&II"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/02/2017

Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

“I & II” is a devastating slab of high octane noise-riddled evil that makes most heavy bands sound weak and feeble in comparison.  The band’s brief outbursts of messy, feedback riddled punk mayhem are as exhilarating as they are terrifying.

“I & II”CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Jerusalem

2). T.R.Ø.Y

3). Bill Evans

4). €ompton

5). Represent

6). Bottomless Pit

7). Abuse

8). SB

9). Hype

10). Slaughterhouse

11). Law

12). El Chapo

The Review:

Japan’s Friendship have delivered the nastiest listening experience of 2017 in the form of their “I & II” LP. This release brings together their first two self-released EPs to form one concentrated blast of aural terror. Incendiary opener “Jerusalem” packs more carnage into thirty three seconds than most bands manage in a whole album. It’s a punishing onslaught of frantic, ugly grindcore that sets the tone for horror to come.

Friendship take the sludge-coated powerviolence of Iron Lung and Weekend Nachos and ramp up the intensity and aggression way into the red and beyond. The band’s brief outbursts of messy, feedback riddled punk mayhem are as exhilarating as they are terrifying but they are at their most effective when they explore the extremes of the tempo spectrum within the space of a single track.

“T.R.Ø.Y” begins at a snail’s pace as the bass and drums carve out a torturous minimal riff that creates an air of bleak foreboding. This makes the eruption of furious crust that follows all the more potent. There are hints of off-kilter noise rock weirdness in amongst the wreckage too, best exemplified by the insane opening riff to “€ompton”. Somehow Friendship manage to take this construction of pummelling chords, bizarre string bends and ringing discord and make it the basis of a straight ahead grind assault. As the track progresses it slows and degenerates into a pit of barely-mobile doom torment reminiscent of Primitive Man at their most oppressive.

“I & II” is a devastating slab of high octane noise-riddled evil that makes most heavy bands sound weak and feeble in comparison.  If these two EP’s are a hint of Friendship’s fearsome power I suggest taking cover now in preparation for a full-length offering.      

“I & II” is available here

ALBUM REVIEW: Vermin Womb - "Decline"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/10/2016

Label: Throatruiner | Translation Loss |

Hibernation Releases | Sentient Ruin

Vermin Womb succinctly distill the essence of their sound into one word: “Violence”.  It is a grimly exhilarating ride, but an oppressive racket that is hard to resist.

“Decline” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1). Entomb

2). Industrialist

3). Disrepair

4). Present Day

5). Rank & File

6). Pitiless

7). Age of Neglect

8). Inner World

9). Slave Money

10). Cancer

The Review:

iTunes genre tags are generally pretty useless. Denver wrecking crew Vermin Womb provide an exception to this rule by using the tag to succinctly distill the essence of their sound into one word: “Violence”.

New album “Decline” packs an almost unbearable amount of venom and fury into its sub-25 minute duration. The trio rip through ten tracks of relentless horror, an ugly fusion of the gnarliest elements of death metal and grindcore. Vocalist/guitarist Ethan McCarthy also plays in the mighty Primitive Man, a band whose bleak onslaught is echoed here albeit with the tempo cranked up into the red.

The whole record seems filtered through a sickly haze which lends a hint of black metal atmosphere to proceedings. This influence really comes to the fore during the wailing riffs that usher in “Industrialist”.

Vermin Womb maintain a constant high tempo barrage for the majority of “Decline” but throw in a few curve balls to keep things interesting. The crushing slow-motion intro of “Age of Neglect” hits even harder in amongst a sea of blastbeats and the stop-start sludge riffing in “Slave Money” is a welcome addition. When the band break into pummelling Disfear style crust-punk during closer “Cancer”  it sounds almost optimistic in contrast to the surrounding drudgery. The mood does not last though as the track is dragged back into the dirt for a slow, 

punishing finale.

“Decline” is a grimly exhilarating ride. It’s not pretty but Vermin Womb’s oppressive racket is hard to resist.

“Decline” is available in Europe here and overseas here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

FFO: Primitive Man, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire, Fuck The Facts, Dead in the Dirt

Wake - "Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/02/2016

Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

“Wretched Tongues” offers the first taste of the unexpected when its mid-section collapses into pummelling, weighty doom - ominous open chords pierced through with shards of jagged guitar. “Drones” adds death-metal flourishes into the mix while “Better Living Through Apathy” has what could almost be deemed a chorus - memorable bursts of two chord punk-rock anger bubbling to surface above the relentless drumming.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” CS//CD//DD track listing:

1. Burn Well
2. Wretched Tongues
3. Drones
4. Better Living Through Apathy
5. Low
6. Unrelenting Hate
7. Vultures
8. Endless Decay

The Review:

When an LP tears through 8 songs in twenty minutes you know it’s not going to be pretty. “Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” is the latest album from Calgary hellraisers, Wake and it’s a fast, ugly ride.

The album rips into life with the raging “Burn Well”. This sets expectations for a solid, no-frills grindcore album in the vein of Nasum, but Wake don’t stick to the script. The band is devastating when unleashing blast-fuelled punishment, but it’s the moments when they stray from the path that really elevate them.

“Wretched Tongues” offers the first taste of the unexpected when its mid-section collapses into pummelling, weighty doom - ominous open chords pierced through with shards of jagged guitar. “Drones” adds death-metal flourishes into the mix while “Better Living Through Apathy” has what could almost be deemed a chorus - memorable bursts of two chord punk-rock anger bubbling to surface above the relentless drumming. “Low” begins with spidery guitars and subdued, skittering drums, bringing a Keelhaul-style math-rock feel to proceedings. Blastbeats soon make their presence felt again, transforming the song into an unusual, but effective, melding of styles and providing the album’s highlight.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” covers more ground in twenty minutes then most bands do in double that and completely slays in the process. Wake put themselves above the competition here and set the standard for quality grindcore in 2016.

“Sowing The Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow” is available here

Band info: facebook

Funerary - 'Starless Aeon' (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/07/2015

Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

/ Vendetta Records

…unleashing devastating riffs caked under layers of tar-thick distortion. The whole album is cloaked in a heavy fog that envelopes every note in a psychedelic haze that enhances the bleak air of despair evoked by the desperate howling vocals.

‘Starless Aeon’ CS//DD//LP track listing:

01. Coerced Creation (05:17)

02. Atonement (03:48)

03. Beneath The Black Veil (11:29)

04. Starless Aeon (03:11)

05. Depressor (10:18)

The Review:

It is difficult to think of a more aptly titled album than “Starless Aeon”, the debut by Arizona doom mongers Funerary. The five tracks here come together to form an aural black hole, sucking in all light and hope from the world to deliver a truly crushing listening experience.

“Coerced Creation” kicks off proceedings at a pace appropriate to their moniker, unleashing devastating riffs caked under layers of tar-thick distortion. What really draws you in though, is the atmosphere that Funerary manage to create. The whole album is cloaked in a heavy fog that envelopes every note in a psychedelic haze that enhances the bleak air of despair evoked by the desperate howling vocals. There are hints of Yob’s darkest moments and the spaced out doom of Unearthly Trance’s “In The Red”, but Funerary have a vibe that is all their own.

The band dial back the heaviness for the desolate dustbowl feel of instrumental “Atonement”. Even when distortion levels are reduced though, Funerary still maintain a cold air of all-encompassing misery. This track bleeds into monolithic album centrepiece “Beneath the Black Veil”, moving from relative calm to sonic onslaught over the course of 11 minutes, providing a demonstration of everything that makes Funerary a force to be reckoned with.

“Starless Aeon” was initially given a small run release last year but it’s great to see it being reissued and hopefully making its way to a wider audience in 2015. Funerary are already holding their own against the doom heavyweights of the world with this debut and I can only see their power growing with future releases.

‘Starless Aeon’ is available on cassette here and vinyl here

Band info: Bandcamp | Facebook



The Sludgelord Presents: ABATON & VISCERA/// - 'Diade(ms)' Exclusive Stream & Review

We at the Sludgelord are extremely excited and grateful to the folks of Sentient Ruin Laboratories to announce the exclusive stream of a monolithic release, a collaborative release in every sense of the word from two of Italy's finest, most forward-thinking and heaviest sludge/doom/post-metal bands around these days, namely Abaton &  Viscera///.

Abaton is a project created in 2009 and the characteristics of the sounds are a mixture of obscure and gloomy doom and sludge, with powerful hardcore openings.  The ultimate purpose of the band is to create dark and meditative atmospheres, to scratch the most introspective and oniric side of every individual.  Viscera/// are an italian psychedelic metal trio. Their style gathers the experiences of post HC, 70's space rock, drone and ambient, in order to create an intimate and extremely personal view of heavy music. So with that description firmly in mind this is what the folks at Sentient Ruin had to say about this groundbreaking release

‘This 7" vinyl EP Titled Diade(ms),  is the collaborative EP manifestation of the wills of both bands to materialize a synergistic, interwoven, and multi-layered work, in which the two bands become fused together into one multi-headed hideous sonic monstrosity, to materialize and represent their own vision of complete aural annihilation.’

A Co-release with: Hypershape Records (IT), Insomnia Isterica (CH), Bare Teeth Records (ITA),Drown Within Records (ITA) and Dio Drone (ITA), Unquiet Records (PL).  This is set for release on 23^rd June and will be available here

Find out what we had to say about the record below about the record

‘Diade(ms)’,  track listing:

Side A: Special Needs (05:31)

Side B: Pandemic (06:21)

Review:

Of the common split, a true collaboration is indeed a rare thing. Today, we have a coSLABoration between 2 Italian extreme music juggernauts: Abaton and Viscera///. 

This is a very sludgy, very caustic slice of extreme metal from across the Big, Blue, Wet Thing, all the way from the Roman Empire. Being a true collaboration, both bands had contributions to each others songs, without either overpowering the main band. So, Viscera/// is the major artist on track 1, ‘Special Needs’, with a bit of credited help from the guys in Abaton, and vice versa for the flip track, ‘Pandemic’. And while both are very extreme, they do have their differences.

On ‘Special needs’, the music and tone is quite a bit more frantic, almost playing with a panic to the song. The vocals are just the most evil sounding rasping screams, carrying a blackness and depravity in tone alone. The track is just evil, with lyrics of selling ones soul, for what sound like nefarious reasons. It's ridiculously black metal in a sludgy format. The bleakness of the vocalist bleed into the guitar, with a harsh, jagged tone hammering at you. Alternating at different points in the track, Viscera/// do like to slow it down a bit, then speed up to drive the nails in deeper. Its a very destructive give and take throughout the 5 and a half minutes it jabs at you.

From there we reach the slower, and just as heavy, Pandemic by Abaton w/ Viscera/// adding some touches. Still have the blackened feel to the song, with a tone and vocal delivery, but it's slow, much slower than ‘Special Needs’, It feels more gritty to the ear, with more effects giving a space like a cavern, black and unending. The vocalist has that severe rasp, pretty much the entire run time. He uses it to strip the skin out of your ear cavities, as the guitars and drums just chew through you. 

Of the two tracks, this one wins my pick, just because it’s that little extra that catches my fancy, due to just that slow building horror they capture so well. Fans of extreme, caustic, bleak metal pay heed, this is very much a combination you don't want to miss at all!

Words by: Hunter Young

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/Abaton.it

http://abaton.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/viscera3stripes

http://twitter.com/viscera3stripes

http://viscera3stripes.bandcamp.com

http://soundcloud.com/viscera3stripes