the Top 10 Stoner / Sludge Albums of 2018

It is that time again. This list was started because well doom and sludge are not the same thing. Neither is doom and stoner rock. While stoner rock and sludge are not the same thing, the lines seem to be blurred a little closer and basically this is about how much pot you are smoking. If you are smoking pot hoping for the apocalypse then you are sludge, you also probably like crusty punk. If you are riding around the desert smoking pot while hoping to find more pot to smoke while listening to Thin Lizzy you are stoner rock. But we are lumping them together, just like last year. The score from my reviews to help determine the ranking , but also how many times Last FM told me I listened to each album.An album can have all the critical acclaim in the world but if it does not inspire multiple listens then how good can it actually be ?

This year it leans more heavily on the side of between new blood being spilled and  more well established acts .  Rather than posting media of a track from each band I am leaving a link to the review, which will contain Bandcamp or Full Album Streams. Ok, enough talking about it, the time has come to dig into the top 10 Stoner /sludge albums of 2018.

10- Secret Cutter - "Quantum Eraser"

 Heavy... that is the mission statement here. This Trio is one of the band's whose name I am familiar with, but have never sat down to give a solid listen. Sludge seems to be the focus, though the spastic tormented vocals could come from a grind core band as they are not just the coarse bellow that booms from most sludge.I think they accomplished what they set out to do, If you are into sludge filled grind core with groove then this album is more for you. It grew on me the more I listened.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/06/secret-cutter-quantum-eraser.html

9- Wolftooth - s/t

 Imagine if Ghost was not pussies but hammered you with dense aggressive chugs. This is a good example of what separates the band's on this list from doom, it's to upbeat and focused on the chug to be doom, though not fast enough to be power metal or thrash, however they are the right speed to rip a bong to. Going back to listen to this album as I made this list reminded me of how good it is.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/01/wolftooth-st.html

8- Alkymist - "s/t"

 The first song on the band's self titled debut reminds me of a cross between Godflesh and Neurosis.I do think the difference between doom and sludge lies in the sense of mourning , and this album carries a dirtier more apocalyptic chug to it, that is being displayed here. I'm just working off my first impression of the opener so maybe their entire families get killed before the second song and the album takes a more despondent turn. I can also hear some Crowbar influence in the grunt of the vocals.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/09/alkymist-st.html

7-Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats - "Wasteland"

 When it comes to the retro style of stoner rock these guys feel like the Rob Zombie version of that as things have had a pulp horror feel to them. Their hippy side tends to win out, but this album finds the normally hard rock band leaning into a more Sabbath style of metal. The first two songs have a catchier swagger and chug to them. This is the strongest effort yet from the band.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/09/uncle-acid-and-deadbeats-wasteland.html

6-Besvärjelsen : "Vallmo"

 Blending a surreal darkness with doom tinged rock riffs these guys so deftly deal in. It's the more surreal swirl to their sound that helps elevate them from the rest of the retro occult rock. While they might not be as keen of songwriters as Devils Blood was they are going into a more drugged out direction. With some interesting melodic breaks these guys are like subtle weed as in they creep up on you and the songs often seep into your brain.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/besvarjelsen-vallmo.html

5-Sleep- "the Sciences"

 The first album in two decades from Sleep. If you are new to stoner metal and just crawling out from under a mushroom, then you might know guitarist Matt Pike from this other band called High On Fire. Al Cisneros who handles the vocals has also played in OM and this time they have the drummer from Neurosis sitting behind the drums. The vocals come across a little different than I remember. They are lower and not as soaked in effects.It does a good job of picking up where they left off. With these guys older and wiser the results don't come short of them proving themselves capable of sitting along side the like of Kyuss in the smoky halls of stoner metal royalty.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/04/sleep-sciences.html

4- Atlas Moth- "Coma Noir" 

 These guys have met at the cross roads of varied genres for sometimes. The consensus is these guys are sludge, though they have played black metal projects individually so that influence is there. They blend sung vocals with screamed vocals that are at a higher pitch bringing another comparison to black metal. There is a powerful metallic chug tothe grooves are to refined to be sludge. It almost borders on Myspace metal styled hardcore as the refinement of the riffs in some cases is a refined as say Atreyu. The way the guitars are layered sometimes it's hard to tell if they are using synths or heavily effected guitars.


https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-atlas-moth-coma-noir.html

3- Fister - "No Spirit Within" 

 This album has plenty pf the wretched vocal howls and crunching slabs of low tuned riffs as it also creates a mood that poses the question where does doom begin and sludge end. They often have a woeful feel until things begin to pick up pace. The guitars capture a sonic atmosphere that's dark and impresses me. They go from almost jamming to the guitars becoming a demolishing swathe of pounding distortion. They weave in interesting shifts in dynamics which doesn't go into all the normal places as the band keeps you guessing with their affinity for haunting melody.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/04/fister-no-spirit-within.html

2 Windhand- "Eternal Return"

 While they are still fixated on Sabbath like overdrive, the vocals have more hooks and they are sharper. Her lazy alto floats over the thick riffs. This is a good example of how I don't need the wheel reinvented I just need bands to give it their own spin. They step away from the bong to indulge in smokey country with a blues underbelly. This might be their most balanced album yet and shows a ton of maturity in their refined songwriting.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/09/windhand-eternal-return.html




 


1-Ilsa- "Corpse Fortress"

 This band is refusing to hold back on  on their debut for Relapse Records. The band's 5th full length finds them continuing to hammer skulls in with the sheer density of their blown out sludge. Dirty and squealing with feedback. The vocals are phrased in a way that that give the coarse scathing shouts almost more of  sung feel. The lyrics cut through better with this delivery. They shift back into more of a low end pounding that owes more to doom when it comes to the ominous rumble as the momentum continues to build. The flatulent bass can be heard in the din at times, but it generally hits you as one frequency. This album earned multiple listens I think it is a huge step forward for the band


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/03/ilsa-corpse-fortress.html

High On Fire :"Electric Messiah"

They are not fucking around here. They kick the door down and roaring full speed ahead like a more hardcore version of Motorhead. I prefer the less punk and more deliberate "Steps of Ziggurat". Even then there is a lot of heavy going on , but this is not their finest hour in terms of songwriting. This one feels like it doesn't develop much until the last minute. There are guitar solos flying everywhere and the riffs are pretty mean, but cool riffs alone doesn't make a good song. The title track finds them throwing themselves into the more rapid thrash attack of the bands Motorhead side. There is more substance to "Sanctioned Annihilation". It is slower than the previous song. The chords ring out to create a darker sound. Pike's vocals are yelled in the same gritty bellow. The tempo changes and at ten minutes the song has room to sprawl out and explore.

"The Pallid" mask is heavy and the guitars are dense, however it just sounds like drunk post apocalyptic pirates making noise. "God of the Godless" has more groove and feels like they have an intended destination in mind. Though they could drone on this for the entire five minutes. Instead, they opt for the punk Motorhead mode. "Freebooter" might be the album's fastest song for the first minute and a half, but when it slows down for a few bars it feels more alive. This could be any thrash revival band that started off more punk than metal. This album is all about the guitar solos though.  "the Witch and the Christ" is a darker more intense take on their Motorhead side. It has more of a sludge attack that reminds me of Mastodon. Four minutes in it begins to bore me. It's not a bad song it's just too long to keep me interested.

They have a knack for always ending the album with the best song. "Drowning Dog" is no exception. It is more traditional metal, so think the older Iron Maiden meets Motorhead. The vocals are somewhat more sung than barked. The whole flow of the song, while at a moderate thrash tempo doesn't sacrifice aggression for melody. So they can pull it off they are happier stomping through muddy water. I'll give this album a 7, if you read this review then you can put two and two together in regards to what I did not like about the album. It sounds good and is heavy, so that should satisfy the bulk of a fan base I am not numbered among.

Crown: " Psychurgy"

Here is yet another French metal band or duo rather, this time however they aren’t any sort of black metal, though they are experimental
Billed as two men and a machine, the two guitars churn against the drum programming which manages to sound relatively organic at the on set
Very droney and noisey the first “song” is muddy samples and white noise, the first actual song is “Abyss” it’s a slow Godflesh like pounding , though the post labels could be applied all over , what I do like about is it is the sonic heaviness.

“Blood runs”, comes back in where the last song left off, it steam rolls through the vocal pattern pretty much a static bellow 1:45 the clouds break and melodies breathes in. They have to encyclopedia of sludge riffs down to bridge pockets of soaring ambiance, which I think are more interesting than their heavier dynamic as most of the experimentation takes place during these sections. The harsh vocals are very monotone and use the same syncopation, the clean melodic singing is more well placed and produced, while they hand in the apathetic Jesu range, they are coated with varied effects to darken them up.

“Empress Hierophant” begins stripped all the way down to the beat and add layers as it goes. The Lower range vocals are similar to those Neurosis uses, the drone over a sparse verse, with minimal guitar accents, that create more of the throb, it feels like it should be perhaps the soundtrack to eraser head or utilized in a david lynch flim around the half way point. The roar of the vocals changes when they grow harsh here but by and large the song floats off into the smoke stacked murk of a post-industrial landscape. The vocals gurgle in the distance as if they are being flushed down the sewers.

"Serpent and fire"…ebbs from ghostly static that is sung under like a transmission from another plane. The soundscape drifts over the beat to a haunting effect. The low tuned guitar barges in with its chug, that is more organic than you would expect and in most instances keeps the band from leaning towards industrial like Batillus does. With that being said there are still moments like the beat to “Telepath’ however does flirt with more electronic leanings along with the robot effect placed on the vocals, the guitar creaks in through the cracks in the paint of this portrait, effected feedback swells build but this while cool sounding is somewhat incomplete when taken as a separate song and not a piece of a large work, it would make a great intro.

“We Crush the Open Sky” has a baritone clean vocal chant layered over the beat before the metal comes crunching, it’s very Neurosis but when Neurosis doesn’t sound like Neurosis there is a void to fill. Not they are bordering on being a tribute band, since they have their own fair share of experimentation.

The drugged pound to the title track suggests monolithic opiates are slathered upon a staggering giant. It ebbs away into another low raspy Scott Kelly like melody, to their credit these are concise dirges so even though some section have a drone to them they are not dragged in excess. The harsh vocals don’t do the sonic build here any favors and seem obligatory. "Alpha omega’s" first minute there is the only blast of the drum programming that could be called black anything, the guitar doesn’t really match it in tremolo picking but gives the faster pattern room to change the transition is an odd bridge , that makes for an awkward movement relying on the sample to fill the gap. The strongest part of the song has a more sweeping cascade of a riff the vocals which come in during the last minute seem the most hones this gets a 7.5 as they can’t shake the neurosis in the vocal patterns which after repeat listens gradually distracts me from hearing their true identity.

Dragged Into Sunlight: Widowmaker

I understand putting out an album of three epics all over ten minutes in length, what Idon't get is why you are Dragged into Sunlight and want to make the first and longest song an acoustic instrumental. Sure it had a somewhat drones quality to it and if compacted down into three minutes would have worked as an intro but it by and large bored me and seemed like a waste of time from a band capable of so much more.

Sure the snarl into a redemptive part two , which captures some to the nastiness they do best but not after I formed a prejudice against this album. because if you are going to only give me three songs make sure all three are with the wait. Part two has a pretty mean grind to its chugs, the vocals dipping into lower more death metal like grunts. The cleaner guitar sound leading into the eight minute market doesn't bother me, in fact it brings a needed dynamic, but is handled within the context of what they do best,and I am alwayss down for experimenting with new sounds as long as I 'm getting the rock inequal doses. The gloomy drone the second part settles into in the final minute and a half works well to drive the point home.

Part three is poured on thick with its volcanic sludge. It wasn't until repeat
Items thatmy ears detected their are screams coming for behind the wall of syrupy distortion. This part is very Eyehategod and lingers for the first three minutes turning the torture over to the bass.it rumbles to a crawls ragging the songs for a minute and a half to what seems a slow death until the drums come in a hammer it into shape. In short heavy as fuck. The pace begins to pick up until it is chugged to a pregnant pause of clean guitar where it is allowed to morbidly reflect for a minute of so, with tightly chugged guitar leading into the chaos the last minute and a half escalates into.

With "Hatred for Mankind" the pay off came quicker and more forcefully. Here the wait throught the tension of the drone and linger of anticipation often makes journey getting to the meat of the matter , fall into back ground music rather than grab your throat and demand your attention. I don't fault them for broadening there sonic range, the parts that hit you excel at doing that ,so despite the wasted first 14 minutes at the beginning which was purged from my iPod within 24 hours of having this one , I think the album earns a 7.5 as your attention span gets its endurance tested , though it is worth checking out as a whole for when the parts that rock, choose to do so they kick your teeth in.

Neurosis: Honor Found in Decay

Twenty years ago when I heard "souls at zero" I became enamoured by how Neurosis mixed the cerebral sonics of a band like Swans with forward thinking metal like Voi Vod. A few years later my head was crushed by "through sliver and blood" and though the band wandered off into folky Tom Waits territory I have always respected what they do. In 2007 when the band released "given to the rising " it was good to hear them school the slew of sludge wanna bes which had sprung up.

"We all rage in blood" opens things up after its delicate build in the first minute and post rock feel In the way the verse drives is fairly straight forward for these guys. Scott Kelly's vocal stacks on a stacatto sneer as the song ebbs and flows. Not really heavy until the mammoth chords in the last two and a half mins.

The NPR streamed single "at the well " is the second songs . It is more long the lines of the bands post-times of grace output. Very slow tempo, with leonard Cohen esque vocals proceeding their trademark howl. After a few listens the eerie guitar line in the back ground made me appreciate this one more than my first listen which wasn't a fan of the tempo. Not that the almost doomy feel is anything new for these guys. The bag pipe break midway into this one is a nice color. I really like the vocal chant of in a shadow world seven minute mark leading into the build. The formula for the album seems to follow a pattern of brood into the song and explode into the climax in the last two to three minutes. Though even these heavier dynamic builds are not as heavy as anything before "times of grace" . Another point of Intrest is in the vocals which never go into the harshness of an all out growl, the restrain themselves to a howl and are maily sung in a throaty but forceful manner.

"my heart for deliverance" lingers in the intro like "set the controls for the heart of the sun" sort of thing before going into a oddly timed rumble of a shuffle. The drumming keeps it from being overly angular. It drifts off into post rock wonderland around the five minute mark before congealing through a blend of sampled dialogue into transcendent crescendo. The guitar line which leers out borders on psychedelic, though the vibe I get for the overall album is these guys don't smoke nearly as much pot as they used to.

"bleeding the pigs" is a blatant reminder that even after making the album with Jarboe they have not forgotten the earlier Swans albums. You would think such a wink at my favorite band would win me over no questions asked, but there is not the pay off a sonic eruption that a Swans song would really have.

"Casting of the ages" a very Mark Lanegan vocal line leads into the gradual build of this this one. It oozes into droning of smooth sludge, the humor keyboards provide a aural sheen over the molasses rolling under the vocal howl. Their lyrics have always had a veiled reference to hermetic mysticism, but on this song they come across more like Ronnie James Dio and seem a little recycled in their metaphoric imagery. they could have hovered around the bong a little longer before committing them tithe vocal booth or I could have stood to have smoked before listening and the lethargic swagger of this one would have floated me off the couch.

"All is found In time" things beging to get a little proggy, the drums go into the trademark tribal pattern Neurosis is know for before they even out into a straightforward Sabbath type thing. I have kept waiting to be crushed and it never really happens like a "locust star". This song does veer into very " no quarter" territory . I really like when the songs darkens up before getting King Crimson and
leaving you hanging.

"Raise the dawn" has the apocalyptic loom to it and the vocal phrasing Mastodon was imitating before they found there stash of Thin Lizzy albums.the swirl the ong decends into works for me evenif it doesn't really go anywhere.

In power and intensity I suppose it measures up with post "times of grace" material but doesnt rock as much as " Given to the rising" it is overall very middle of the road for these guys, while I understand they have mellowed with age it never goes to any extremes, committing to a more hypnotic drone might have give more challenge to the listener,I have been in debate about how to score this one because even thoughts not as heavy as I need it to be I do give them credit for expanding into some of the more post rock like sounds I hear on this album but the fact it's so Lukewarm dynamically irks me so I'll give this a 7.5 as they set the bar high for themselves and we know what they are capable of but whos to say it won't grow on me. If you don't know any better round it up a point.

Review Revisited - Wizard Smoke: the Tickler

Disclaimer - this review was edited as per request of the band who felt it held an intensely personal angle taken towards their members, motivations and supporters. They also felt it to be insulting and nothing to do with the musical material in question" So to prevent delicate feelings from being further hurt,let it go on record that unless you are one of my all time favorite bands ever, I have no feelings one way or the other about you. Thoughts on your music... sure, But I have much more important things to occupy my mental space with after the 20 to 45 minutes I gave to review your album. Ok sometimes even less, but before you let your corpse paint run it means that I already was listening to it a lot in the car or at the gym, so have a solid notion of what I like about it. Other than that you are either enriching my iPod or taking up space on it.

 the review was originally published October 1st , so it tool the band a year to contact me directly, after they had spent time crying about it on various forums. So if you are a band aching about a review, feel free to contact me and depending on my mood and level of caffenation, I may or may not tell you to fuck off and that this is my blog so I'll write whatever I want, since Freedom of speech makes those allowances. However Dan of Wizard Smoke was polite and courteous , so I was more willing to work with him on this. Though I told him this and it goes for other bands. If your singer seeks to represent a brand he represents (your band is a brand you are selling) by portraying himself as a jack as in public media, its a hard image to shake when listening to the music. Just like it was hard to take solo Ozzy seriously when he was acting like a fool on reality t.v. I had more  emotional investment at that time than I do with your band, which is none. I'm likely apathetic about every thing else about your music. The golden rule when allowing your band to be represented with a level of frivolity or in any manner is to grow thicker skin. Now that we have those ground rules out of the way here's the review, which since it was originally written the band has since gone on hiatus and played what was announced to be their last show.

This two song release by Atlanta's Wizard Smoke is roughly clocks in at twenty mins.  They were the last of the sludge band wagon, as sound of slow southern steel grinds to a halt with death metal and thrash returning to prominence like in the late 90s.

The first song "Christian cross" is typical for the bands sound , though when I heard the song "weakling" I almost got a dsbm feel from the agonized nature of the vocals ,t here they are pretty run of the mill and indecipherable. Though on this track the guitars are the focal point and fortunately the most interesting element. By the eight minute mark the song implodes into generic sludge. I like the accented hits which ring out, because  even if these guys aren't fans it's a reminder of what an influence Swans have had on this genre.  After a revealing last interview, its fair to assume when the joke is up they are nominal metal heads at best,  one of the guitarists  owns a Preist album, other wise the rest of the band falls in line with whatever soundtrack the East Atlanta indie rock dictates, which when left to social trends migrates to shows the hipster sect as deemed the place to party. While in the local metal community the band got  flack for the non-metal elements,  those were actually the bands stronger qualities.

The synths don't add much, the keyboardist holds a chord here and their never utilizing single note melodies, so no Deep Purple here. The most talented member sounds to be the bassist whose embelishments add offer variance and leave room for The guitars more melodic single note ascending patterns that are the more powerful moments r. I'm not sure how they are earning the psychedelic label as there is nothing really Trippy or etheric going on its pretty a typical sludge, with a few winks to noisy post punk.

Old snake... Feels more like Clutch or late eighties Corrosion of Conformity, the singer makes an attempt to sing in a throw back blues style and his throaty bellow, sounds like a mimicry of Clutch lacking in any personality of its own. They do get credit for not defaulting into a total southern rock thing. At a minute and 15 seconds into it when the guitar wanders out  from under him, you see how little thought was given to  melody here. On the second verse when the vocals are doubled in a wise production choice, though the lack of harmony sounds like a drunken bar sing along.

I do like the transitional break down at the seven minute mark, but cool riffs do not automatically equate solid songwriting is the mantra here .  The solos are very simple and text book blues rock but add to this song, even if these guys are in now way shape or form shredders of any caliber .

I'd say if you are a fan of this sort of thing it's worth a listen , it didn't have any staying power  in my iPod , t theres not much of this kind of thing in my collection aside from Naam, who employs a wider scope of melody. e. So the collection of little cool parts lands them a 4 in my book, call it a 5 if you aren't in Atlanta and had the displeasure of being exposed to some of the distracting exposure in the local media the singer has received.

Ithe whole sludge thing had its fifteen minutes called last year and bands like Royal Thunder who come from a similar demographic moved on to the retro vest metal crowd. Halcrow doesn't have the pipes to carry them into a more melodic direction as  demonstrated here, But buy them a Pbr for giving it the good ole collage kid try.

Xibalba : Hasta La Muerte

These guys have gotten a lot of buzz, from sources like my friend Anrhony over at the Needle drop and frankly I'm surprised how much beat down style hardcore is in this as lot of what I has read about this was calling these guys a death metal band and comparing them to Disma.

Greg Anderson of Sunno))) is on this record and had some production input. But don't be fooled by that as there isn't any hipster indie doom going on. This is like one breakdown building off of another breakdown. In some ways this reminds me of Bloodlet and the time whe. All of those victory records bands were picking up change and starting lawn mowers in the pit back in the mid 90s. They always just seemed like metal bands with short hair and no guitar solos with hurt feelings and social agendas. With time all of that has faded Converge is the only band from that time period who stood the test of time unless we are going to count Hatebreed. So as times change all the things I disliked about the victory records hardcore bands has faded and we just have Xibalba slamming this metal core thing , with out the fashion sense of themyspace metal core bands, this is the real deal no suicide silence or white chapel bullshit here.

This is going to take a few listens as songs have a similar cadence to them. The drums that kicked off the third track " Laid to rest" got my attention. it's impossible not to nod your head to this, though my neck is swaying forward in the same time signature through out, the album does find some variation in the descent into sludge. Is there a genre called sludge core already ? Is it different than the box bands like Eyehategod are in ? Because this feels like southern California and there is no traces of swamp or blues to this.

Again and again the hammer drops here, I kept listening so something must be working,by the end of this I'm going to listen again to separate the songs out in my heads if you have not read how I come up with my scores it's the percentage of songs I like for the most part I compact them into a single number, with albums where it's one slab of heavy like this one it's hard. The more I listen the grasp I am beginning to get on this beast, the bass tone is a major player here as it manages to thump past these guitars which sound like they are tuned down to c, don't quote me on that one as I haven't picked up a guitar to check yet. But this whole albums has ,more rumble to it than your average bear.

I do think this album hits it's best moments when balance with ambiance and the experimental shades like the female vocals on the title track. The powerhouse drumming helps pummel some of these songs through. This is similar in someways to post "Divine Intervention" Slayer song writing is who needs attention to detail in song writing whenwe can just juggernaut our way through, which works on some songs most notably the brutal " Sentenced". But the Sepultura feel to the tribal drumming at the beginning of " the flood" is a good example how if more colors were added this album could have been much darker. The melodic single not drone slathered atop the roomy pound creates a heavier feel to me than coming at you straight on.

I can round this one up to an 8 , Becuase it's moments are so strong and I like the heaviness through out even the blunt nature of this album I respect and foresee is making through the rest of the year on my iPod , it's a good replacement for Ringworm and seems to be growing on me as I have been listening to this a helluva lot more than the Khors album I got of the same night, recommended for fans of this new wave of extra rough hardcore.

Royal Thunder : CVI

While the Atlanta band's e.p., survived the test of time on my i-Pod a feat thanks to the rotting corpse of Steve Jobs, since iTunes up dates fail to accommodate products they still sold such as my iPod classic, so instead of 60 gigs of music I'm reduced to 20, given the rate I consume music it makes for some hard choices every Sunday. So that's an indication of how highly I place the e.p. the anticipated "CVI" album required several listens to grow on me. Not to mention living in Atlanta at present, Royal Thunder finds themselves in a place where he local hype built up around this band is not aligned with the reality. In comparison to a band like Christian Mistress, which most locals aren't familiar with how adventurous are Royal Thunder? Well lets dive into this thing and find out.

At first I would have told you The 2nd track "Whispering world" feels like it would have have been a better opener than "Parsonz Curse" a more simmering blue number that takes it time getting wound up into a gospel slither.This still may or may not be true while I now do not dislike "Parsonz Curse" as I had upon initial listens, in fact it did not make the synch to my ipod, until given a few more tires on the Relapse records band camp page.It could be the lyrical subject matter which is a personal commentary on the inner workings of her families legacy made the approach to the song more passive aggressive after all this is how the majority of family dynamics seem in the south unless they are out in front of the trailer park beating each other with pots and pans.The song builds into an almost gospel fervor by the refrain at the end and pays off.

Miny's vocals being more aggressive vocals on "Whispering World" come across very Kylesa influenced and in some ways the rest of the song as a whole does as well.it has more drive than all the songs on the e.p. put together. Here is where an interesting point comes into play, as Royal Thunder flirts with what most consider metal, having spent the better part of the last year touring with bands vastly heavier than they are. With the road as a learning experience,they went back into studio like the old Charles cartoon from the 60's, where the kid on the beach gets sand kicked in his face so he goes home and works out to turn the tables on the bully. This album displays much muscle however, touring with a jam band might have given them similar treatment as they have com back with more sprawling offerings and most songs clocking in over the 7 minute mark.

Miny's ear for hooks and melodies give her the edge in songwriting,I welcome the return of rock god guitar soloing on the track shake and shift it creates too long of a bridge in between the more interesting melodic elements which play to the bands strength rather than the new Led Zeppelin moments. "Your No Good" doesn't really re-invent the wheel, a convincing blues shuffle attacks like the Mc5 paying more attention to melody. I really like the Tool-like chugged tension "Blue" opens with. The Concrete Blonde meets Black Sabbath comparisons on this album have been put to rest as I more 90's grunge than Sabbath.

The re-recorded version of "Sleeping Witch" utilizes a touch of subtle cello underlying the guitar, not my first pick of a song to re-visit from the e.p., but it must be a favorite of the band. Kylesa shading on the second songs aside one of the band's strong points is their sense of identity. They could have given into the temptation to conform to the climate of the Southeastern sludge scene. To the ear, they could care less about their neighbors Mastodon. The use of haunting melody in a song like "South of Somewhere" while more pervasive on the e.p. it's shown in good portion here. the use of vocal hooks as a dynamic build is also present though the shift in songwriting makes it not as much of the focal point as the on the e.p. Multiple listens indicates this is due to the fact the entire band converges more into one working unit than Miny having to be so far in the forefront to carry the songs. the jammed sections feel like there way of saying "Wow, we have been on the road doing this for a while now look we really are coming to our own as a band" The interplay of instruments is not only denser but more advanced here. I wouldn't call it progressive rock rock but more expansive.

I have said elsewhere Parsonz voice reminds me of Lita Ford particularly when belting into a higher register. This is somewhat dispelled on this album, and she has more time to explore a variety of vocal colors. Where the ballad "Minus" at the later portion of R album seems to be filler and it's only two minutes of it so it's by and large forgivable. My points of contention with the Royal Thunder's new album revolve around my own personal taste and what I wanted more of after the e.p and the live show gave me a taste of. Performance wise it's pretty solid."CVI captured what they set out to do with out flaw. The fact it's taking a while to work on me I can recognize as a good sign as most stuff I get quickly hooked on tends to have less staying power.

out of 10 I rate it an 8.5, not the saviors of rock as you know like Atlanta press might claim but they have produced a quality album and their brand of blues inflected rock is sure worth a listen of frat-crap like the Black Keys any day of my week.