LP Review: Shepherd / Death By Fungi Split

At the beginning of 2015, we were introduced to a sludge/doom band from Bengaluru, India, with their debut full-length record Stereolithic Riffalocalypse, and it blew us away (review here), so it was sad that we recently heard that Shepherd have decided to call it a day. However, before they leave us for good, they've have released a split record with fellow Indian band Death By Fungi, who onslaught us with a hardcore edge, and it's a nice stamp in the face to remember the band by.

Perhaps it's because they're sharing a record with a hardcore band, or it was a direction that the band were heading down before they called it a day, but Shepherd have lost some of their doomier aspects (just some though) and gone for full on sludge meets hardcore, with elements of fuzzy djent in there too (you remember djent? That musical genre that lasted the summer of 2009?), and it's a sound that's exciting to behold. The record opens with five tracks from Shepherd, with 'Agents of Nihil' setting the tone with a bleak and frightening monologue from the climax of the film The Exorcist 3, before the chaotic sludge explosion assaults you, while their almost trademark chugging bass heavy riffs drive the spine of the song forward, a sound which all us doom/sludge heads will cling to. The vocals mix with light and darker growls, while they even find time to shred while the drums go off like a pneumatic drill. Shepherd, haven't lost their sound, so much as shoved a firecracker up its arse and honed the results. Our highlight of the entire record is 'Hope Comes Gnawing' with an almost funky sludge bassline continues throughout, both exciting and frightening in the same breath. 'Fungalord' and 'Weed Dealer' (Shepherd have always been a band who like to have fun with their song titles, just see 'Turdspeak' or 'Black Cock of Armageddon') are tracks which are both excellent break-neck speed sludge tracks with elements of stoner added in for, well, why the hell not? You can never really relax with these guys as they can change time signatures and pull out devilish riffs from out of nowhere. We're going to miss this band.

While the hardcore genre may not be something with which you guys out there are necessarily drawn to straight away (this being a site for the best stoner/doom/sludge/psych etc), Death By Fungi are not a band that you should ignore. While many of the trademark hardcore elements are there with constant snare beats, breakneck speed playing, high velocity shouting vocals, there are definite elements of something just that bit heavier with this band, just take the riffs with 'Edgelord Breakdown' melting your face with it's furious assault throughout and the anger of the vocals screaming "You've failed me so many times!", they take the elements of sludge which Shepherd bring to the table and put their own spin on it, and it becomes an invigorating and refreshing listen. 'Dead Soil' morphs into a sound which is like doom on acid, with a fluctuating heart rate that'll kill you with a smile on your face.

Even though Shepherd have sped up their sonic game, they're still the slower, sludgier of the two bands here, and the compliment each other well. If this indeed does prove to be Shepherd's final opus (bands do get back together after all) then it's a mighty fine closing on a short, but heavy-as-fuck career, one which you're a fool to have missed so far (but thanks for introducing us to Death By Fungi on your way out). Get this record now and give your ears a good kicking!

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Sunday Sludge: Indian - "From All Purity"

The most wonderful time of year just took a shit on our carpet. I'm not gonna waste anyone's time with an anecdote or a lead-in or some hazy bullshit diatribe. Your uncle's gonna be here in about three days, drunk, newly divorced, and ready to jizz off some stupid jokes. I won't smile as I share my thoughts on Indian's fifth full-length. But let's be honest; it's not out of courtesy. I'm simply too fucking battered after sitting with this release for forty minutes. My face hurts.

Indian have spent a decade slowly snuffing out listeners utilizing an incendiary, spiteful cocktail of misanthropic sludge, primitive doom, and an agonizing blackness that'll sink your hope-filled chest. From All Purity descends into depravity immediately and completely, six torturous tracks clouded with hatred and hardly caring to wonder if you're gonna be okay. 2011's Guiltless etched Indian into the ranks of the doom elite. January's From All Purity demonstrates their commitment to the cause.

The aptly-titled Rape is slow-motion sonic assault, splicing dull ache with sharp pain. But from the onset, the abrasions are what stand out. Screeching licks and organ-shredding vocals arrive with blatant malice, the rhythmic patience of slow dirge acting as a structural bonus. Timing and execution is a clinic here, precise and testifying to a band knowing exactly where to funnel their punishment. Under tapestries of shrill noise and weathered doom, Indian make no haste violating your frame at every level.

As you realize you won't be clubbed out of your misery, the shrouded chops of The Impetus Bleeds are just another extension of the distant, cavernous anguish. With the pulse of a murder factory, there's no catharsis accompanying this repetition. Indian slug at consciousness without allowing for numbness, just drawn-and-quartered brutality. Eternally evident is the stomp of sludge, punctuated by the piercing noise. As the album hits its stagger, Directional steadily sprays violent dust, buzzing with the descent of doom and drawn-out churns. A grindhouse aura of permeated spite greets slow-burning rhythms, guiding us as marked sheep.

Rhetoric of No is relatively amped, splitting sludge with a deceptive vocal vulnerability among sludge-doom riff mangling. Guitar embers brighten, revealing a heaving presence, squealing ans scratching at hope. The track is as untameable as it is undeniable, and we're being slowly buried. As tailing technology drains all sense on Clarify, an unsettling intermission breathes only shrill disturbances, scoffing at all things synthetic.

As this crusher sways to a close, gazing through dead, lifeless eyes, the metered and calculated devastation stays set on its target. A strange solemnity finally punches through after poking holes throughout the album. Plates shift and Indian's swarming sound envelopes all. Guitars buzz like hornets and double-kicks wrangle our ankles toward a death-drubbing. Atop your dying breath rests a cloud of despair, mocking your uncertainty.

If you've made it this far and struggled through all these descriptors, maybe you've found the digressions far more painful than you'll find Indian's breed of doom-drenched noise. The jagged glass that's been stomped into your cavities is just a whisper of what Indian offer with From All Purity. This is a band wringing their dirty hands and tossing bricks, but they're hardly aimless. These six tracks hit the spite-nail straight on the head, driven directly into your senses. I didn't think anyone could improve upon Guiltless. Somehow, these dudes have even less remorse than they did years three years ago.

For fans of: Minsk, Electric Wizard, Wolves In The Throne Room
Pair with: Accumulation White IPA, New Belgium Brewing

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Album Of The Day-Indian-"Slights And Abuse/The Sycophant" (2008)

The Album Of Day is "Slights And Abuse/The Sycophant" by Indian.



Review:

Let's start off with the bottom line first on this one; This is ferocious. This is downright intense. This is abrasive and heavy all of the right ways. This is Indian, a Chicago trio that mixes doom, sludge, and just enough noisy experimentation to make their latest release, Slights and Abuse/The Sycophant, a spectacular slab of fiercely destructive metal.

Take the driving low end of Black Cobra, the thick stoner doom of YOB and tortured vocals dripping with black metal intensity, and the result is Indian. And although it may be fairly easy these days to peg doom and sludge bands into a certain sound, Indian's great songwriting variation quickly rules out that notion.

Tracks like "Cursed Reform" excel due to their forceful pace, emphasizing powerful drumming and jarring riffs in which the bass and guitar tone meld into one monolithic wall of rumbling low end. "Pigs in Your Open Wound" lays down a more mid-tempo groove, consistently building momentum through repetition as it leads into "Allotriophagy," the disc's eerily spacey, piano-based interlude. Even the record's fifteen minute epic, "Fatal Lack," dives into a bit of uncharted territory as it closes with a period of slightly off-beat rhythms reminiscent of Shellac, the Jesus Lizard, and Co.

Combine this great song versatility with excellent album artwork and a production job that captures phenomenally heavy guitar and bass tones and it's not hard to see why Slights and Abuse/The Sycophant is a remarkable release. Only listeners who shy away from the sometimes plodding nature of doom metal might want to pass on this one. But for everyone else, this shit rules.

Bottom Line: Indian's ability to explore different songwriting styles all while maintaining a firm grasp on the key elements of a doom metal record makes Slights and Abuse/The Sycophant an excellent release. It's unbelievable heavy. It's unsettling. It might even give you nightmares.

(Nick, Lambgoat)

Track Listing:

01. Slights and Abuse
02. Second Death
03. Cursed Reform
04. Fatal Lack
05. Lust
06. Pigs in Your Open Wound
07. Allotriophagy
08. Gloat
09. The Sycophant

Listen

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Official Website

Purchase Album Here

Middian Battles Onward

Eugene, Oregon`s almighty Middian, as they continue to battle the courts and fight for their existence in gracing us with with their pummeling psychedelic doom, are hitting the West Coast with Indian this month. The trio will be joining Indian, Red Fang, SubArachnoid Space, Agalloch, Red Sparowes, Grayceon, Russian Circles, Asunder, Witch Mountain, Nadja, and Trees at the March Into Darkness fest in Portland this month, kicking off their tour.
Check out the slew of site links below to keep up to date and help Middian out in their time of need!

Middian with Indian

03/21/2008: Portland, OR - March Into Darkness Fest at Berbati`s
03/22/2008: Seattle, WA - El Corazon, with Asunder, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth (Tad`s new band)
03/25/2008: Eugene, OR -Samurai Duck, with Ninth Moon Black, Black Waves
03/26/2008: Medford, OR - Musichead
03/27/2008: Oakland, CA - Maxwell`s
03/28/2008: Los Angeles, CA - Mountain Bar, with Ancestors, Harrassor
03/29/2008: San Francisco, CA – Annie`s, with Asunder
03/30/2008: Eureka, CA - Alibi

www.middian.org
www.myspace.com/middiandoom

INDIAN Tours The Western US With MIDDIAN

Chicago's avant doom-thrashers INDIAN head west this month for a two-week tour of the western U.S., including a stretch of dates with MIDDIAN and a stop at Portland, Oregon's March Into Darkness Fest.

INDIAN has been described by The Chicago Reader as "a five-alarm hellstorm...deeply, irresistibly evil," by The Chicago Tribune as "sonic bludgeon," and by StonerRock.com as "the future of heavy."

INDIAN's new release, "Slights And Abuse / The Sycophant" (a collection of two recent vinyl releases), hits stores April 1 on Seventh Rule Recordings. The CD was recorded and mixed in Chicago by BURIED AT SEA/MINSK member Sanford Parker (PELICAN, LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, YAKUZA).

INDIAN tour dates:

March 18 - Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
March 19 - Denver, CO @ Kingdom Of Doom
March 20 - Boise, ID @ Mr Lucky's
March 21 - Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan (March Into Darkness Fest) *
March 22 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon *
March 24 - Portland, OR @ The Tube *
March 25 - Eugene, OR @ Samurai Duck *
March 26 - Medford, OR @ Musichead *
March 27 - Oakland, CA @ Maxwell's *
March 28 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Mountain Bar *
March 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Annie's Social Club *
March 30 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Broken Record
March 31 - Denver, CO @ Three Kings Tavern
April 01 - Wichita, KS @ Barleycorn's

* With MIDDIAN