Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs : "Land of Sleeper"

This review will be different, as I gave this album a few spins yesterday before I sat down to write about it this morning. Normally my reviews are track-by-track first reactions to what I am hearing upon pressing play, this time I have soaked my ears on the album for a while.  The newest album from the British stoner/sludge outfit finds the more punk undercurrent that ran through their previous album smoothed out in favor of a more Sabbath like lumber. This was an element of their sound before, but this album is refined into a more metallic direction. One thing I like that is in play is the sonic heaviness, that balances out the fact they are more of a metal band now. That is not to say there are not some burly moments that lean into more of a Motorhead like rumble when they step on the gas.

 In fact, "Big Rig" works off such an attack. The vocals have a Lemmy-like gravel to their declarations. Even then the song slows into more doom-drenched lingering rather than running you over with their locomotion. There are a few experimental moments on the album. "The Weatherman" opens with a chanted chorus over the screaming feedback of guitars before the song begins to awaken. They bang it out again with a Motorhead-like enthusiasm on "Mr. Medicine". My favorite song on the album might be"Pipe Down" which has a surreal groove that balances the stoner chug with a more Hawkwind sense of stoner shadows. The vocals are also some of the album's best, as he attempts to sing more. This sways my opinion given the fact vocals are such a high priority for me. His approach is different on this album as there is less Rollins-like shouting. 

The weighty throb of distortion that rolls over your ears on" The Atlas Stone" feels less inspired than what they churned out before this song. While they are still more focused on songs than curating sounds, I think the move in a more metal direction puts them in a more occupied sonic zip code that makes them fall into middle-of-the-road familiarity. The space sounds that haunt some of these songs help, but there needs to be more of that. There is more of a psychedelic feel to "Ball Lightning". The female vocals harmonizing with him as things swell to a climax is a nice touch. This album is an evolution to their sound that makes sense, it is an album I can just leave on and let play for the bulk of the afternoon so I will give this one a 9.