Showing posts with label Southern Lord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern Lord. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 February 2017

REVIEW: Sleep - "The Clarity" (EP)

By: Jake Wallace

Album Type: EP
Date Released: 10/02/2017
Label: Southern Lord


“This track sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a huge robotic entity slowly trudging through space. ‘The Clarity’ is exactly what every Sleep fan wanted to hear after being dormant for such a long time. If these guys can pull an album out of the bag in the near future with anything remotely close to the calibre of power involved in this, then we are in for a serious slab of mind-altering, heavy doom.”


“The Clarity” DD//LP track listing:

1). The Clarity

The Review:

Sleep. The undisputed lords of doom. Ever since ‘Dopesmoker’ was released back in 2003, enthusiasts of monolithic, weed-steeped music have been crying out for more new material from the holy trio of Al Cisneros, Matt Pike and Jason Roeder. 

In 2014, it was announced that Sleep would be releasing a single entitled ‘The Clarity’ via the Adult Swim Singles Program, recorded by Neurosis’ Noah Landis and mastered by John Golden. It was pummelling, it was cataclysmic, it was tripped out and it was fucking stoned to the backbone. 

Now, in 2017, Sleep have re-issued ‘The Clarity’ via Southern Lord and this time round it has been recut by Adam Gonsalves/Telegraph Mastering and pressed onto a kick ass 180 gram 12-inch vinyl.

‘The Clarity’ begins with a series of morse-code sounding noises, transmitting some form of ethereal communication from a deep void in space. Suddenly, we are met with the crushing sound of the trio in full force as the track takes off and the Weedian proceeds. The nostalgic sound of Al Cisneros’ low-frequency chanting breaks through the extremely dense wall of sound provided by Matt Pike’s astounding tower of Orange amplifiers. This is also the first piece of material with Neurosis’ Jason Roeder on drums and he has completely found his place in the universe’s heaviest trio. 

Around the 2:20 mark, the track breaks down into more tripped out otherworldly sounds via Pike. I saw Sleep play this track in London back in July and this section blew my mind out the back of my head. No matter what anyone tells you or how sure you think you are… get earplugs before you see Sleep. It’s a no-brainer… meaning you will cease to have an encephalon should you disregard this advice. 

The lyrical themes of this track are very expectedly dominant on marijuana. The short, deep chants are a perfect compliment to the riffs with lines such as ‘Stoned chariot ascending, Smokes the true believer’ and ‘Heavy dry weight, hasheeshian smoked relief’. It really isn’t that difficult to see who the target audience are. 

Around the 5:20 mark Pike lays down some Sabbath-worshipping lead guitar licks and the solo actually comes across very cleanly compared to some of his earlier lead parts in the infamous ‘Holy Mountain’ back in 1992. This track sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a huge robotic entity slowly trudging through space. The sustain from the guitar is insane and Cisneros’ bass is flawlessly hefty as always. 

‘The Clarity’ is exactly what every Sleep fan wanted to hear after being dormant for such a long time. If these guys can pull an album out of the bag in the near future with anything remotely close to the calibre of power involved in this, then we are in for a serious slab of mind-altering, heavy doom.

Sleep headline Desertfest London and Berlin this year along with Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona and another performance at Psycho Las Vegas in August. 

“The Clarity” is available to preorder/buy here



Band info: facebook || bandcamp

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

ALBUM REVIEW: Darkest Hour - “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora”

By: Ben Fitts

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 10/03/2017
Label: Southern Lord

“Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” finds an exact middle ground between the elegant melodicism of Darkest Hour’s earlier work and the feral muscle of their previous album. The mixture is sure to please nearly all fans of the band, both old and new.  The result is twelve tracks that simultaneously capture Darkest Hour at both their most tuneful and their most assailing.


“Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Knife in the Safe Room
2. This Is The Truth
3. Timeless Numbers
4. None Of This Is The Truth
5. The Flesh & the Flowers of Death
6. Those Who Survived
7. Another Headless Ruler of the Used
8. Widowed
9. Enter Oblivion
10. The Last of the Monuments
11. In The Name Of Us All
12. Beneath It Sleeps

The Review

Since Darkest Hour strayed from their melodeath roots in favor a more commercial metalcore sound on their self-titled, eighth album in 2014, many new fans have flocked to the band’s base. However, older fans of their melodic death metal sound have been nervously twiddling their thumbs about what this would mean for the future of Darkest Hour’s direction. That future arrives in the form of the Washington, D.C. based quintet’s ninth LP, “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora”, their first original release for Goatsnake/Sunn O))) guitarist Greg Anderson’s label Southern Lord Recordings. It is also their first album to feature Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou behind the soundboard, and if the names associated with this album seem like they might be sending mixed messages about the album’s stylistic direction, that’s because they are.

“Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” finds an exact middle ground between the elegant melodicism of Darkest Hour’s earlier work and the feral muscle of their previous album. The mixture is sure to please nearly all fans of the band, both old and new. The vibrant, flowing guitar leads definitive of the band’s classic material reintroduce themselves on “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora”, which may be partially due to the return of former guitarist Kris Norris, who, while not a full member of the band again, does perform additional guitar layering on the album. “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” also sees vocalist John Henry return to a style more closely approximating his work on early Darkest Hour, albeit a tad harsher and more martial.

These elements of Darkest Hour’s past works float atop an amalgam of their newer, metalcore influenced sound. The elements of classic melodeath that the band always impeccably recreated are set to a backdrop of vicious aggression that provide a new kind of edge to Darkest Hour that one never noticed was missing before. This is perhaps best exemplified by the album’s tenth and possible standout track, “The Last of the Monuments”, which mixes nimble guitar work, infectious melodies and ferocious attitude. “Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” truly finds the best of both worlds that Darkest Hour has ventured into, removes them with a scalpel, and then slaps them onto a new musical canvas. The result is twelve tracks that simultaneously capture Darkest Hour at both their most tuneful and their most assailing.   

“Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora” is available preorder/buy here

Band info: facebook

Thursday, 5 March 2015

The Sludgelord News: GOATSNAKE Reveals Details Of Their Upcoming Full-Length, Black Age Blues, Due For Release On Southern Lord In June


GOATSNAKE is ready to unveil the details of their first full-length in fifteen years, entitled Black Age Blues, the album to be released via Southern Lord on June 2nd, 2015.

Black Age Blues is an instant classic, with each one of the nine songs an anthem, and each of the four members of GOATSNAKE in top form. Everything is magnified; Pete Stahl's vocals have never sounded so good, the rhythm section comprised of Greg Rogers on drums and Scott Renner on bass are the driving force on each track, and Greg Anderson's riffs are heavier than ever before.

Appearing on the album intro to "Another River To Cross" is acoustic guitar courtesy of David Pajo (Slint, Aerial M, Papa M), the track also containing previously released recordings from GOATSNAKE's "The River." Piano is played by Mathias Schneeberger and Petra Haden contributes violin and vocals. Another welcome addition to the album, across multiple tracks, are brilliant backing vocals by Dem Preacher's Daughters: Wendy Moten, Gale Mayes and Andrea Merrit.

Black Age Blues is familiar, but nothing here is a repetition of what we've heard before, as GOATSNAKE continues to refine the timeless, ultra-heavy rock that they are infamous for, surpassing even the highest of expectations.

The track listing and front cover, with photography and design from Samantha Muljat have been released. Audio samples and much more will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Below is a full rundown of GOATSNAKE's current list of upcoming live shows in the US and Europe, including appearances at prestigious events such as Maryland Deathfest in the US and Temples Festival in the UK.

Black Age Blues Track Listing:
1. Another River To Cross
2. Elevated Man
3. Coffee & Whiskey
4. Black Age Blues
5. House Of The Moon
6. Jimi's Gone
7. Graves
8. Grandpa Jones
9. A Killing Blues

GOATSNAKE Live Actions:
3/21/2015 Gypsy Lounge - Austin, TX SXSW (Day show)
3/21/2015 Yellow Jackets Social Club - Austin, TX SXSW (Night Show)
5/02/2015 Pappy & Harriets - Joshua Tree/Pioneertown, CA
5/24/2015 Maryland Deathfest - Baltimore, MD w/ Amorphis, Anaal Nathrakh, Inverloch, Neurosis, Winter, more
5/30/2015 Temples Festival - Bristol, UK
6/01/2015 De Kreun - Kortrijk, BE
6/02/2015 Melkweg - Amsterdam, NL
6/03/2015 SO36 - Berlin, DE
6/04/2015 Freakvalley Festival - Siegen, DE
6/07/2015 AN Club - Athens, GR
6/20/2015 Crucialfest - Salt Lake City, UT

Source: Earsplit PR


Monday, 16 February 2015

The Sludgelord News: EARTH'S EUROPEAN TOUR UNDERWAY; UK DATES KICKING OFF THIS WEEK

(photo credit: Marylene Mey)



  Earth are currently on the road in support of Primitive And Deadly, their spectacular full-length released in September 2014 onSouthern Lord. The touring line-up of Dylan Carlson, Adrienne Davies and Don McGreavy, have been perfecting the live renditions of new songs since July last year, as well as revisiting older classics. Earth will be joined by Black Spirituals (USA) and Don McGreevy & Rogier Smal Duo (USA/Nl). Here are the remaining tour dates:

TOUR DATES:


tue 17/02/2015 DE Dortmund  FZW
wed 18/02/2015 NL Groningen Veratou

fri 20/02/2015 UK London Islington Assembly Hall
sat 21/02/2015 UK Birmingham The Oobleck
sun 22/02/2015 UK Leeds Brudenell Social Club
mon 23/02/2015 UK Newcastle The Cluny
tue 24/02/2015 UK Brighton The Komedia

wed 25/02/2015 BE Kortrijk De Kreun
fri 27/02/2015 GR Athens Kyttaro Club EARTH ONLY
sat 28/02/2015 TU Istanbul Borusan Müzik Evi EARTH ONLY

sun 29/05/2015 ES Barcelona Primavera Festival
31/05/2015 UK Bristol Temples Festival

Dylan Carlson recently recorded a mix of some of his favourite tracks for the London radio station NTS - do check it out at this link!



Source: Rarely Unable PR

Monday, 19 January 2015

The Sludgelord News: Daily Digest

Your rundown of the top sludge news stories of the day …

WARHORSE - It’s been 14 years since Massachusetts stoner doom band WARHORSE released their one and only full-length album, ‘AS HEAVEN TURNS TO ASH’. Since that time, wars have been fought, empires have been toppled and new ones have arisen. One of those empires is the Doom and Stoner genre in metal, there’s no denying its current surge in popularity led by bands like Uncle Acid &  the DeadbeatsElectric Wizard an Windhand. Well, SOUTHERN LORD RECORDS is asking the current generation of Stoner and Doom fans, “yeah, but have you heard ... this?”

The label will be re-issuing the classic long player on February 23, 2015 which is described as “absolutely vital in foreshadowing the plethora of current acts who partake in long-form, recklessly downtuned expeditions”. 

As an added bonus, the full album will feature a pair of bonus tracks, the complete ‘I AM DYING’ EP that was issued a year later in 2002.

Here are the details:
TRACK LIST:

As Heaven Turns To Ash LP
    1. Dusk
    2. Doom's Bride
    3. Black Acid Prophecy
    4. Amber Vial
    5. Every Flower Dies No Matter The Thorns (Whither)
    6. Lysergic Communion
    7. Dawn
    8. Scrape
    9. And The Angels Begin To Weep

I Am Dying EP
1. I Am Dying
    2. Horizons Burn Red


Source:
Rarelyunable PR

*****************************************************

BLACK SHEEP WALL - California sludge four-piece BLACK SHEEP WALL’s new album ‘I’M GOING TO KILL MYSELF’ won’t be released by SEASON OF MIST RECORDS until January 26, but you can hear “TETSUO THE DEAD MAN” right now on The Obelisk website.

"It's crazy how much can change in a year or two, but when you think about our history those who have been following us shouldn't be surprised", states guitarist SCOTT TURNER. "We're very excited about the release of 'I'm Going to Kill Myself', and the debut of Brandon as our full time vocalist after doing close to 7 years of duty on bass. His voice is the voice I've been waiting to have in the band for years.

“The album was just as much a labour of love as it was an arduous and brain wracking process. Once you hear the songs you'll know what I mean. They are a test of endurance as Jackson and I purposely tried to push the limits of taste for the album which I sometimes like to think of more as a special project than a true follow up album.

“'I'm Going to Kill Myself' is unique to us in that rather than sitting down for formal song writing sessions we kind of just wrote songs through conversations, and with odd symbols and notes on paper that translated to guitar, bass, and drums in the studio.”

The four song follow-up to 2012’s ‘No Matter Where It Ends’ is over an hour long and is capped by a closing track, ‘METALLICA’ which covers over half of that span. ‘Tetsuo the Dead Man’ isn’t nearly that long, but approaches the 10-minute mark with sustained fury.

You can stream the song at this location. If you like what you hear, you can pre-order the album at this location.


Source:
Season of Mist Records

******************************************************

GHOLD - It was confirmed over the weekend that doom sludge duo GHOLD are set to release their second album. ‘OF RUIN’ will come out on March 16 through RITUAL PRODUCTIONS. The London-based drum and fuzz bass team were tapped by Terrorizer Magazine as “one to watch in 2015”, so the release of this album will be seen as the rising stars’ "big chance" and everybody involved in the project pushed themselves to the limit to make sure the band takes full advantage of the attention.

"We basically locked ourselves in the studio, slept on the floor, and just really pushed everything as far as we could,” said album engineer Dan Miller. “It was a real heady environment of manic creativity, where anything and everything was tried, and a lot of the more weird or offbeat ideas ended up really working. The result I think is something at times pretty heavy and mean, but also quite beautiful, warm, lush and completely original.”

‘Of Ruin’ will be available on CD and vinyl and the band will have an official album release show on March 20 at the Black Heart in London. You can watch a trailer video for the album at this location.


Source:
Rarelyunable PR

**********************************************************

DEATH ANGEL - Switching gears now, San Francisco thrash metal band DEATH ANGEL are set to take over the UK this August, with a string of four dates. The short run will begin on August 4 with a stand-alone headlining slot at Wolverhampton’s Slade Rooms. The band will then support prog legends Queensryche at Bristol’s Marble Factory on the 5th, London’s Electric Ballroom on the 6th (with Armored Saint) and finish out at the Brighton Concorde on August 7.

The band is touring on the strength of their 2013 album ‘The Dream Calls for Blood’ from Nuclear Blast Records. You can watch the video for the title track at this location, and if you like what you hear you can order the record here.

Once again the tour dates are listed as follows (find ticket links embedded within):


Source:
Nuclear Blast Records

******************************************************

DOWNFALL OF GAIA - Moving across the Atlantic now, another tour is set to take place, though this one will be significantly longer and considerably darker. Metal Blade Records’s  very own German post-black metal quartet DOWNFALL OF GAIA will play over 20 cities during the course of their 23 day United States tour. It’s the band’s first opportunity to showcase material from their latest album, ‘AEON UNVEILS THE THRONES OF DECAY’ released in November, in the United States.

"We are pretty excited to return to the States and present our new record Aeon Unveils The Thrones Of Decay for the first time live on stage!” said Downfall of Gaia vocalist Dominik Goncalves dos Reis. “Six months of silence has passed and finally we are ready to hit the road again! Can't wait for this ride!"

You can get in on the ride at the following Tour Dates:
1/22/2015 Quinn's - Beacon, NY
1/23/2015 Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, PA
1/24/2015 Mojo 13 - Wilmington, DE
1/25/2015 Metro Gallery - Baltimore, MD
1/26/2015 DC9 - Washington, DC
1/27/2015 Strange Matter - Richmond, VA
1/28/2015 The Earl - Atlanta, GA
1/29/2015 Will's Pub - Orlando, FL
1/30/2015 Churchill's - Miami, FL
1/31/2015 Fubar - St. Petersburg, FL
2/01/2015 The Handlebar - Pensacola, FL
2/02/2014 The Maze - New Orleans, LA
2/03/2015 Dirty Dog - Austin, TX
2/04/2015 Double Wide - Dallas, TX
2/05/2015 Fubar - St. Louis, MO
2/06/2015 Red Line Tap - Chicago, IL
2/07/2015 The Wisco - Madison, WI
2/08/2015 Now That's Class - Cleveland, OH
2/09/2015 The Shop - Pittsburgh, PA
2/10/2015 The Monkey House - Burlington, VT
2/11/2015 UANC - North Haven, CT
2/12/2015 O'Brien's - Boston, MA
2/13/2015 Saint Vitus - New York, NY


Source:
Earsplit PR

********************************************************

ENABLER - In Ohio, hardcore metal trio ENABLER was at Silver Bullet Studios recently, hard at work recording their third studio album, Century Media revealed. It’s the band’s second album with producer Greg Thomas at the helm, who produced 2012’s ‘All Hail the Void’.

“It’s been great working with Greg Thomas again,” frontman Jeff Lohrber said. “I thought it was key to work with a producer who is not only a brilliant engineer, but also understands the band’s sound. We’ve done this before, so there’s a lot of fresh ideas coming out, some things we wanted to try previously but didn’t have the time, as well as a lot of reflection on the previous material of everything that we love about it as well as everything that we think needed to change.

“The collection of songs on this record is the most dense and diverse that I’ve written for Enabler, at times it is the band at its heaviest and most destructive moments and at times is the most melodic and heartfelt it’s ever been. There is also a general love for punk and traditional rock and roll that comes out on this record that the band hasn’t quite done before, with a lot of black metal style undertones hidden beneath it. The record just sounds scary, but very listenable at the same time. I’m always excited for every release the band puts out, but I think this one takes the cake on anything the band has done previously. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”

Fans will be able to hear it sometime in early summer, that’s where the release date is expected to fall around.


Source:
The Noise Cartel & Enabler

****************************************************

OVID’S WITHERING - And we finish the weekend’s top news stories with a flair for the dramatic. Unique Leader Records will re-release Florida’s theatrical blackened technical metal quintet OVID’S WITHERING’s ‘SCRYERS OF THE IBIS’ LP on March 10.

The album, which was originally independently released back in 2013 to critical acclaim, will be released digitally as well as on CD and double vinyl. You can preview the album at this location and pre-order your copy at this location.


Source:
Earsplit PR

And now you’re all caught up in the world of sludge.

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Choices Cuts: Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (2008)



Years Active: 1989–1997, 2003–present
Records to Date: 14
Genre: Drone, experimental rock,
         post-rock, minimalist
Label: Sub Pop, No Quarter, Or,
Southern Lord, Blast First/Mute

The Band:

  • Dylan Carlson – electric guitars, amplifier
  • Steve Moore – acoustic grand piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano
  • Don McGreevy – bass guitar, double bass
  • Adrienne Davies – drums, percussion

Guest musicians
  • Bill Frisell – electric guitar on tracks 1, 4, and 5
  • Milky Burgess - slide guitar on "Junkyard Priest

Review:

There are some records you forget about, there are some records that make the Top 20 list of the year. There are some records that are inextricably linked to a time and a place. Then there’s a few small bundle of records that transport you to your own personal universe. Earth makes such records as a matter of course, and ‘Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull’ is at the very pinnacle of that, the transcendent space Dylan Carlson and his cohorts occupy. Like most of the records featured in Choice Cuts, this is best experienced in the vinyl format; delicately pulling out the record from its leather bound case and reverently placing it on the turntable is a tactile experience to be savoured. But even if you’re just mundanely hitting play on your iPod, the end result is the same: complete bliss.

The reason for this serenity is simple – Earth can do more with one note than most bands do with a million. At a tempo of a sunlit siesta they languidly yawn and stretch a chord progression as heavy as long-forgiven sins, and it’s utterly gripping. ‘Omens And Portents I: The Driver’ is like spotting a coiled snake in the desert. You’re not sure if it’s sleeping or if it’s waiting to strike, but you’re immediately struck by the beauty and the power of control as the snare gently rattles and guitars plugged into dusty valve amps. There’s no rush to impose themselves here; like a mountain, there are there dominating the senses. Elsewhere, heavy piano chords give the feeling this is a somewhat more classically inclined work, and rightly so. For all the talk about being pioneers of drone, there is really nothing like Earth. No one else who can see the way to combine psychedelia and gospel organ music together with slow cyclical chords into one coherent vision that is ‘The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull’.

Words by: Steve R. Jones

You can pick up the record everywhere now


Album Details:

‘The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull’ is the fifth full-length studio album by the band Earth, released in 2008 via Southern Lord Records.  The album was produced with Randall Dunn, recorded and mixed at Avast/Aleph Studios.  The artwork is by Arik Roper, who as previously worked with Sleep and High On Fire, to name but a few. The title of the record  is a reference to Judges 14:8 in the Bible. It tells the story of Samson, who tore apart a lion and when he returned, noticed a swarm of bees and some honey on the lion's carcass.


'The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull’ track listing:

1). Omens And Portents 1: The Driver (09:06)
2). Rise To Glory (05:47)
3). Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine) (08:01)
4). Engine Of Ruin (06:28)
5). Omens And Portents II: Carrion Crow (08:04)
6). Hung From The Moon (07:44)
7). The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (08:15)
8). Junkyard Priest (Bonus Vinyl Track)(07:13)

2XLP pressing is 4980 total. (3k black, 1k clear (for European Distribution only), 980 Gold (mailorder).


For more information:



Thursday, 30 October 2014

Martyrdöd - Elddop (Album Review)



Album Type: Album Type
Date Released: 22/7/2014
Label: Southern Lord Records

‘Elddop’ CD/DD/LP track listing:

01. Nödkanal
02. En Jobbigt Jävel
03. Synd
04. Mer Skada Än Nytta
05. Prästernas Tid
06. Victoria
07. Tentakler
08. Slav Manual
09. Elddop
10. Skum Pä Väridens Hav
11. Varningens Klockor
12. Steg
13. Martyren
14. Hjärnspoken
15. Under Skinnet

Martyrdöd is:

Fredrik Reinedahl | Bass
Jens Bäckelin | D-beat
Mikael Kjellman | Guitar, Vocals
Pontus Redig | Guitar

Review:

Prior to listening to ‘Elddop’, Sweden’s Martyrdöd were to me just one more metal band in a sea of those with eldritch names and Scandinavian origins. They fell by the wayside along with various others that allegedly combined hardcore/crust punk and metal to critically successful effect. Turns out they do this; the problem is they do this so damn well that it cannot be ignored.

The warning signs should have come sooner, being signed to Southern Lord puts Martyrdöd in the company of The Secret, Nails and Black Breath – all bands at the vanguard of hardcore infused extreme metal today. Then there’s the whole Sweden thing, which the discerning metal fan should always get more excited about than a band coming from, say, Croydon.

At its core this is a punk band with a punk based sound, yet it is metal in its execution and metal that ultimately fuels their d-beat assault. The record sounds thick, dense wall-of-sound bass and guitars forming the core of it, with drums curiously laying lower in the mix to masterful effect. You won’t listen to ‘Elddop’ for Mikael Kjellman’s vocals, not because they are bad, but because they are largely sparsely used and sit buried in the mix, being no more important than the guitar leads gliding over them or the bass buzzing away underneath it all. The band work as a unit, the whole surpassing its parts while each plays his vital role.

Listening to ‘Elddop’ you quickly realise this is a record of riff worship, not in the soporific three-note Orange-fuelled doom sense, but in the way you felt when you first heard Bathory’s ‘Nordland’ or Sabbath’s ‘Children of the Grave’. Speaking of Bathory’s later work, the lead guitar melodies often have a folk-esque inflection, that despite coming out of nowhere never seem to be at odds with the overall sound. The verbose may call it a neo-classical bent, I’m more inclined to call it cool as fuck and leave it there.

These guitar parts manage to saturate each song with keen melody throughout. That some of these guitar leads wouldn’t be amiss on Propagandhi’s ‘Potemkin City Limits’, while others could have been taken from Wintersun’s debut, speaks volumes not just on how well written the songs are but how much the band remains rooted in each genre. Combining this with the incredible production makes the band accessible from the first listen, drawing you in whilst the more subtle fruits of the record emerge after repeat spins.

The sheer energy of it all is a joy to hear, a fiery shot of aural adrenaline borne of ostentatious crust punk roots laced with heavy metal bombast. In theory this should be as innocuous as a wild dog robed in ermine, but ultimately comes out sounding like jubilation itself.

This is a record of disparities, opposites not just attracting but sounding like they should never be apart. What Martyrdöd have achieved on ‘Elddop’ is something forward thinking bands of all walks should aspire to – confidence, triumph, the skill to bring forward every musical influence they love and turn it into a cohesive LP of brilliance.

Words by: Jake Mazlum

You can pick up a copy here



For more information: