Superjoint : "Caught Up In The Gears Of Application"

They have dropped the Ritual for this era of the band. I just figured out that Hank the III is not in the band any more. Instead Wovenhand bassist Stephen Taylor is onboard along with the drummer from Warbeast, so this is more of a House Core Records all-star band. It's very dense and heavy. The opening song is more oppressive than where they wind up by the time they get to the more punk "Ruin You". The title track is pretty feral as well. They do lock into more of a groove that hooks me in by the end. Phil keeps things at a gruff grumble. In many ways this more closely resembles Eyehategod. The songs are all very compactly written.

The brisk "Sociopathic Herd Delusion" feels more like filler than what I know these guys are capable of doing. "Circling the Drain" still sticks to the roughened version of what they are doing here, but strikes me as being more interesting. If you are familiar with my for with Cvlt Nation then you might have a better understanding as to why the lyrics to this song strike me as being more compelling. "Asshole" which bears the chant "shit comes out of it" is more run of the mill hard core though like most of this album it is slathered in a coat of New Orleans sludge. "Click Baiter" allows Phil to voice is anger towards the Internet. It has a more melodic riff that cuts in, but is not really covering much new ground.

"Mutts Bite Too" comes closer to the swampy waters the corpse of Acid Bath floats in, though without the more melodic vocals. The drumming might be the best on this song. This might be the album's heaviest song. "Rigging the Fight" may or may not be about the election, but Phil is a hug fan of boxing so he might be mad at Don King. "Receiving No Answer to the Knock" finds the guitar opening up more room for grooves and melody while Phil grunts and barks like he has for the bulk of the album. I'll give this album a 7.5, it's a little one dimensional for my tastes, but if you are looking for rough and rumbling tough guy shit from New Orleans then this is for you.


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