ALBUM REVIEW: The Air Turned To Acid, "Black Zen Instruction"

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/12/2018

Label: Independent

'Black Zen Instruction' is a superlative of sorts, used to describe the unearthly, off kilter song structures and relentless brutality this band bring to the table.

“Black Zen Instruction” DD track listing:

1). 4 Combined

2). Hounds

3). Pinstripe Grey with Party Welts

4). Anketell Brewer

5). It’s A Long Walk to Coney Island

6). Gutterpunk

7). The Tent Murders

The Review:

I'll admit it; I absolutely love The Air Turned To Acid. As human beings, they rank highly as some of the most genuine and friendly I've met. As musicians, they're phenomenally talented and oozing with the kind of creativity that most bands can only dream of, churning out riffs that will have guitarists saying 'why didn't I think of that?'

'Black Zen Instruction' is a superlative of sorts, used to describe the unearthly, off kilter song structures and relentless brutality TATTA bring to the table. For a debut album and their 2nd proper release after the 2015 split with Tides Of Sulfur (my band, coincidentally), this is stomach churningly good. The tempo switches on 'Hounds' and the ferocity of 'Pinstripe Grey With Party Welts' makes it hard to comprehend how TATTA, a band that rehearse only a handful of times a year, can sound so cohesive and focussed. Vocalist Rich Repper brings a Eugene Robinson like unpredictability, most notably to tracks like 'Anketell Brewer' and 'Gutterpunk', howling, growling, screaming and barking like a man possessed while knowing when to let the guitar work of Will Saunders and Leo Stuart shine through with their mathematical view of sludge riffs and jarring disharmonies a key component of their sound. Just listen to 'The Tent Murders' and you'll understand why this band is deserving of the phrase "criminally underrated".

The Air Turned To Acid are a band who are often overlooked and underappreciated in today's metal world. By no means is this a slight on them, they out play and outperform many of their peers and offer something truly different in heavy music, something that is sorely lacking. Do yourselves a favour; listen to this right fucking now!

“Black Zen Instruction” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

The Sludgelord Exclusive Song Premiere - "Maltheist" by Tides of Sulfur

By:  Aaron Pickford



You can’t fail to admire the ascendency of the UK doom scene over the last 5 years, indeed if we extent that scene to incorporate the whole of the British Isles, the scene is perhaps in a better state now than it has ever been,  (Slomatics, I can never leave you out).   

More knowledgeable folks on the scene may scoff at their John Smiths Bitter (Or Brains if your from Wales), over this remark; and perhaps it is longer than that in terms of bands coming through and imprinting themselves upon the underground.  I merely speak from a subjective standpoint given my tenure at The Sludgelord has been roughly that period of time, but what is clear, is that the doom scene is not just some fly by night Nu-Metal fad, there is and has been a veritable smorgasboard of bands that have emerged from the scene, producing superior albums and thus in turn giving our neighbours across the pond and in Europe a run for their money, making their asses clench in the process.  To coin The Sludgelord mission statement, the UK doom scene truly is, attempting liberation through amplification!!

Few could argue that the quality and quantity of bands to emerge have been superior, but the question is, in the words of John Bush is there “Room for One More”. Well if the answer on your lips is  Tides of Sulfur, then it is a resounding “hell fucking yes”.

Emerging from South Wales in 2012, Tides of Sulfur drew upon their influences to create their 'epic death sludge' sound with original drummer Jamie Burston, but was soon replaced by powerhouse Tom Lee (no not that one) and his approach to his craft instantly gave the band freedom to expand on their range of sounds, incorporating aspects of more extreme forms of heavy music such as black metal, grindcore, crust and primitive doom, moulding Tides Of Sulfur into the filth noise merchants they are today.

Since their inception and a variety of short form releases later, most notably a recent split with The Air Turned to Acid, this death-sludge power trio are pleased to announce that they will unleash their full-length debut album “Extinction Curse” on July 15th 2016 via Black Bow Records and whilst I don’t wish to blow steam outta the ass of one band or one individual in particular, Conan, and leader and driving force, Jon Davis are a fine testimony to what the scene is about, dedication to their art, determination to succeed and a willingness to support the scene that supported them.  Certainly the signing of Tides of Sulfur to his own label, further exemplifies Jon Davis’ dedication to champion the best bands the UK has to offer, and make no mistake people, the 7 tracks on offer on Tides of Sulfur’s debut are misanthropic, nihilistic and filthy as fuck, fueled by a disdain of the greedy and morally corrupt, 21st-century human condition.

Today we are absolutely fucking ecstatic to present the first blackened hymn entitled “Malthiest” from an absolute beast of an album “Extinction Curse”. Now “Can you dig it?”

Here is what Tides… had this to say about the track they hand picked for today’s premiere.   

We fancied writing an utterly misanthropic and aggressively negative tune. Started of as an anti religious affair but we'd decided that's been done a fair bit. "What if God is real?" We thought, " What if the religions of the world are partly right but it turned out he was just a sadistic vicious bastard?".It turns out that there's a word for someone who believes that. A Malthiest. 

Pre-orders for the album are available here. “Extinction Curse” was recorded and mixed by master craftsman Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studio and mastered by Today is the Day's Steve Austin.

“Extinction Curse” CD//DD track Listing:

1. Eternal Bleeding

2. ...Of Suffering and Grief

3. Woe To You O Destroyer

4. Malthiest

5. Extinction Curse

6. Iron Fists Shall Rust

7. Year of Pigs

Band info: Facebook

Tides of Sulfur / The Air Turned To Acid - “The Last Words of a Dying Planet" Split (Review)

By: Eric Crowe

Album Type: Split

Date Released: 26/08/2015

Label: Hibernacula & FHED

Both bands absolutely kill it on this split, and I’m sure a live setting with these guys would be a truly punishing experience. Can not wait to see what the future holds for these bastards!

“The Last Words of a Dying Planet” CD//DD//CS tracklisting:

1. Lord of Flies (Tides of Sulfur)

2. Crawling Through a Pit of Ash and Bone (Tides of Sulfur)

3. Disinherited (Tides of Sulfur / The Air Turned To Acid)

4. Sisyphus (The Air Turned To Acid)

5. Glandroid (The Air Turned To Acid)

Review:

Strap in and hold on for this short but amazingly filthy split! So much sludge and crust elements throughout, its downright killer! “Lord of Flies” starts out with some meaty ass guitar tone and drum-fills, but then rips right into some crusty sludge with great drive and higher range throaty vocals. Gears shift with “Crawling Through a Pit of Ash and Bone” to a slower and darker edge, but one that hits you right in the feels. Vocally this one doubles up with the Cattlepress type vocals and a heavy reverberated Crowbar vocal offering. Riding on this darkened wave for a bit, things drop off to a bass segment then smashing into a complete D-beat explosion! It ends up in half time then fading out, bringing you perfectly into a taste of the next track. “Disinherited” is a collaborative track between Tides and Acid that makes a perfect transition between the bands. It’s a dark noise ambient piece that churns so grimly with samples of Charles Bukowski’s poem “Dinosauria, We”

Continuing down this path of grime and nastiness we have The Air Turned to Acid with “Sisyphus.” A mid paced dirge that really keeps the filth alive! Throaty vocals we have all come to love from the genre, Grief-like and mixed with stomach cramping screams, so perfectly fitting. The riff turns into a heavy scale and the tone reminds me of old Dystopia, ALWAYS a good thing! “Glandroid” finishes this out with more of a frenzied feel in the sound. Heavy chunks, palm muting, despairing vocals with a lot of diversity! This ending riff just keeps getting heavier and slower with every pass and even some noise and knob tweaking at the end, which makes for a damn great end to the album.

Both bands absolutely kill it on this split, and I’m sure a live setting with these guys would be a truly punishing experience. Can not wait to see what the future holds for these bastards!

“The Last Words of a Dying Planet” is available here

Band info: Tides Of Sulfur | The Air Turned To Acid