LP Review "Estron" by Slomatics

 

Ireland's Slomatics have been around since 2004 and in that time they have put out numerous releases and have appeared on splits with the likes of Conan. Their fourth full length LP "Estron" shows that Belfast born Slomatics are easily as heavy as any of the heaviest bands you are ever likely to hear. Slomatics are bone breakingly low-end and have mastered the art of boiling their riffs down into simple yet extremely heavy weight drones that give a few nods to Torche/Floor in a rumbling earthquake of bomb strings.

The 7 tracks that make up "Estron" give you little time to catch your breath from the chest crushing freqs that are delivered in punishing waves of massive and explosive doom riffs, except that is for the 6th track "Red Dawn" which serves as a kind of retreat from the storm of pulverizing heaviness. That is not to say that every track on "Estron" is a relentless barrage of lowness as there are captivating moments of psychedelic droning atmospheres and experimental use of effects and synthesizers that show Slowmatics are about far more than just playing the biggest and heaviest riffs that 3 humans can possibly produce together without causing serious injury to themselves and anyone who is listening. "Estron" is very close to being dangerously heavy and this is at the core of Slomatics' sound but the futuristic psychedelic sound-scapes produced by these 3 Irishmen make this album one of the most enjoyable listening experiences so far this year.

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EP Review - "Swamp Lung" by Swamp Lung

"If you smoke herb please partake before listening at maximum volume."

That was how the email to us from Swamp Lung ended. "Okay", I thought, "don't mind if I do." and so I went about the task of vigorously partaking before I sat down to give this s/t EP from South Australians Swamp Lung a listen. It was sound advice indeed as it nearly prepared me for what I was about to hear pour forth from my speakers...and ohmyeldergods..this..is..some..heavy...fuuuu..

Within 7 seconds from the teasing drums and feedback that open "Infant Thought" and this EP, a black hole of doom opens and sucks your mind into a dimension of slow thunderous beats, even slower crushing riffs and painfully tortured guitar wails that stretch as far as the inner eye can see. This vista of doom ripples with tidal waves of feedback which serve to mold the ever evolving riffs with sludgy growls coming from the vocalist not making an appearance until 05:56 into this thirteen and half minute lowend beast. The tension is increased as the song unfolds with thudding drums, feedback manipulation and bulbous guitar and bass chugs building Melvins-like to the point of snapping into mind sucking black hole sludge for the remainder of the song, while slurring throaty screams and growls spew dirt in your ears.

A slack swaggering riff opens "Constant Reinforcement" in a haze of smokey Sleep vibes with plodding stoned drums and lung burned howls/grunts. The song grows a slouching groove with nowhere to be in a hurry, just happy to fuzz along at a snails pace, bathing in a sea of lowend freqs for a while until the final quarter the energy is raised by a blow into the furnace of heavy metal causing a pleasing rock out until it is torn down again into righteously obnoxious doom and sludge taking to us to the end.

"Starspawn" rocks the sludge fuck out right from the beginning, A river of fat and fast sludge consumes you and carries you along into an abyss of netherworldy grunts, punishing skin hits and broken but crushing doom. Feedback squirms and wails like a tortured alien. I can imagine the spooks at some secret deep underground military base playing Swamp Lung to captured aliens, just to see the looks on their weird unhuman faces. The sadistic torturing of our galactic brothers and sisters continues with twisting and screeching feedback being the response and monumental walls of drone eking out drum freakouts and a movie sample that speaks of the human race being left as nothing more than a bed time story, a myth.

Perhaps the tortured twisting feedback is not the desperate screams of captured aliens being subjected to doom metal continuously at very high volume but the sounds of our own timely demise as "Blood Harvest" shows in a broken mash of analogue and digital noise. Our beautiful mother earth is imploded organically and virtually in fuzzy white noise until head and reality splitting feedbacks bend and morph into each other in and out and all over the place resulting in a final broken fade into nothing.

And so ends "Swamp Thing" by Swamp Thing, from Australia. I've noticed a lot of  great doom and sludge bands coming from over there the past few years and Swamp Lung are contenders for the one of the best of them so I'll be keeping an eye out for their future releases.

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LP Review - Toner Low "III"

 
Toner Low are a band from the Netherlands that formed in 1998 and their latest release "III" is their 3rd release, of course. They say you should never judge a book by its cover and I suppose the same could be said for a CD, tape or LP, but with Toner Low's latest, the cover is quite telling and very inviting indeed.

Continuing on from 2008's "II" with tracks simply titled "Phase 1-5", "III" contains tracks "Phase 6-9" and what Toner Low bring here is more of their ultra heavy psych-doom with a low end tone that is so damn low and driving that it bores a hole right into your chest like a 1,000 ton tunnel boring machine. I had an actual complaint from my landlord that the bass was too heavy and was rattling his windows downstairs so I waited until I knew he would be out before I cranked this mother of an album up, fired up a bowl or 3 and immersed myself in the very heavy weight frequencies laid forth by Toner Low on "III".

"Phase 6" begins with backwards percussion leading to churning and tumbling riffs and thunderous drum work with a sonic weight behind it all that is so resonant that it rattles everything within a wide area. Distant cries call from within the bass onslaught and heavily effected and grimy guitar licks squirm in and out as this huge monstrosity of a track breathes in and out vast clouds of thick green smoke.

"Phase 7" hangs on some electronic hum for a brief moment before plunging and hypnotic riffs take the tone lower still, the track sloths along in no hurry at all, giving the listener the chance to savor every rib rattling frequency. There are fleeting calmer moments but soon the massive throb returns but this time adding even more weight showing that explorations in heavy music are not limited by anything but imagination and Toner Low show here that theirs is of a kind fixed firmly on experimenting with the low tone. This track ends in a chaos of twisting psychedelic noise that had me thinking of a Butthole Surfers live show with Gibby and his "Gibbytronix" in all its full on bad trip splendor.

"Phase 8" opens with vague and droning organs and plodding drums followed by atmospheric and moody bass and guitar jams that float dreamily, lulling the listener into a peaceful trance. The tracks drops to the organ drone for a moment before the huge plunging bass heavy riffs are unleashed with the organ sounding out louder to aid in an almost evangelical praise at the alter of the riff within the church of the heavy. Godly chants sound out a cosmic prayer while relentless riff delivery gives pleasing massages to the soul. It is so easy to get lost within the trance that Toner Low induce so when they have unexpected breaks in their groove, one is woken from the trance suddenly where Toner Low lay on even heavier and hypnotically groovy riffs with which to savor. It's a very clever move by Toner Low as it kept me interested in what I was hearing.

"Phase 9" drifts from silence towards a catchy bass line and quiet radio interference and drifting feedback. A lazy swaggering riff and complimentary drum thuds and smacks kicks things into gear to unfold a heavily stoned behemoth of depth dwelling noise. Creepy echoing guitars sneak in to give an uneasy edge before descending into filthy sludge dregs that pushes my bass cab to its limits. I had to turn the bass down a bit for fear of my windows cracking or me getting a nose bleed. This is Toner Low at their most dark and repressive and is easily on a par with the horrifying bleakness of bands like Moss and Cough. The singer turns his voice to eerie choir singing that adds an ancient vibe of mysterious monks chanting in the cold stone darkness of some long forgotten crypt. The chanting vanishes to leave a barrage of weighty and memorable riffs that culminate in an instrumental freak out which then drops to lone bass line followed by a quietly weeping piano melody which ends the track in an emotive send off for Toner Low's "III".

Get over to their Bandcamp now to purchase this landmark and essential release in the world of heavy music.

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