LP Review: Veneficae by Boar

Hailing from Oulu, Finland, the four beasts that make up the almighty noise/sludge/stoner behemoth that is Boar have finally released their debut full-length record after six years as a band, and it is a record which will floor you! Combining all of the best elements of haunting doom, aggressive dirty sludge, hazy psychedelic meanderings, and stomping stoner riffs, Veneficae is a record of near perfection.

Opening the record in blistering style with the face ripping ‘Old Grey’ sets the marker for these Finnish guy’s intentions; heavy doom riffs combined with a technical sludge that is breathtaking at worst, and a set of vocals spat from the darkest corners of the sludge genre. It would make for a great record if the band were to simply continue at this pace throughout the album, but their masterclass in musicianship is shown by their change in styles from track to track as the psychedelic opening of ‘Witch Woman’ shift the aim of the band, as gentler dreamy vocals are sang over the top of stoner riffs. They are different musical styles that sit perfectly alongside each other as each song intertwines elements of the other, either with the odd venemous sludgy vocal or demonic doom riff, creating an underlining sound which is essential to behold.

With their free-playing use of these genres, it’s not right to really put the band into any categories, basically pick your favourite genre and they’ll excel at it. Standout track ‘Sand’ is basically a lesson to all bands in how to create pure, blissful, unadulterated noise, bended around a mainframe of riffs and solid song-writing that keeps you addicted from start to the all-too-soon end. 

Whether your thing is doom, sludge, stoner, psychedelic, classic rock, noise, (everything Heavy Planet loves) Boar have mastered it, and crafted a record which is almost perfect for your desires and needs. It’s not often we say this, but Veneficae is essential stuff!

Veneficae is available to pre order at Lost Pilgrims Records.

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