The 7th album from this band who has been slugging it out since the 90s. On the second song things pick up from the weighty lumber they hit you with on the first song. While the vocals still have a distorted filter on them, there are different effects as well to give them a slightly wider range of their roar that varies in the level of anger they channel.They hit even harder on "the Morphinist". Not sure the vocals are really all that interesting on this song, but mood is rather uniform at this point in the album and solidifies their bull dozer sound. The more thrash gallop to "the Absolute Center of a Pitch Black Heart" is pretty effective and what the album needed to retain it's momentum.The vocals are kind of an after thought at times. The distortion on them is similar to that of the first song. The drumming is very solid and the cymbal work reminds me of Slayer in places.
"Gallow Humor" drags along, it's ominous , but collides against the rule here that cool riffs alone do not make a good song. It hangs on what is a powerful riff for five minutes and the subtle shifts are not enough to really carry it. "Secrets of the Curmudgeon" rumbles on building off of sounds we have already heard and presenting them in a more compact manner, the bass player proves himself on this song. The album's best song is the more dynamic "Pastor in A Coma" that finds a more melodic riff creep in to give them a much needed shift. They are back to the more pummeling attack this album is rooted in on "George". I was not really sure what to expect going into this. These guys are the finely tuned machine they should be after playing for this long, I guess I expected a little more experimentation and melodic depth, but this album is really solid for what it is I'll give it an 8.5. It comes out on Relapse Records July 15th.
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