Fange : "Privation"

 Somehow this French sludge band we are fans here dropped this banger back in March and it slipped under our radar. They still connect the dots to hard core, but now have a more industrial influence creeping in. The vocals are still driven by a mean roar. This album find them getting even darker, so they opening track has us excited. It should be said that they come to this sonic intersection without hopping on the Code Orange band wagon. Sometimes the more crushing aspects of the riffing put them in a similar stylistic zip code, but they get there in a very organic fashion, making me suspect they know who they are while doing this. They are actually heavier than Code Orange typically gets with a more metallic intent on the second song.

 Would not say this is catchy songwriting , but it's extremely heavy while having enough melodic elements to keep me hooked in. Taunt industrial syncopation possesses "Les Crocs Limes" .  Many a band should be taking notes from these guys when it comes to be heavy as fuck while still maintaining a dynamic ebb and flow. The album does not get stuck on one sound for every song, shifting where they melody goes, at times adding in almost 80s elements in a manner not unlike what some of the synth wave bands are doing without being synth wave. Cindy Sanchez lends her voice to a track, as does the singer from Hangman's Chair. If any one ever tries to convince you that Rammstein is heavy , you need to play this album for them. The song Cedric from Hangman's sings on starts off in a deliberate death metal direction, though they shift over into a similar gloomy feel to set the stage for him to sing over. 

This might go down as one of the heaviest releases of the year, and it does not fit neatly into any one sub-genre, but the aggression is more death metal than sludge in place, though sludge often owes more to industrial as a great many sludge bands have taken inspiration from "Filth Pig" . There are some head banging grooves mixed in among the oppressive darkness this album deals in. The album closes with the angriest song that attacks you with an acidic distortion before finding it's syncopated groove. Sure comparisons can be made to Godflesh, but their is more emotion in the catharsis, they are still more men than machines. The blunt force they wield on this album never hits you the same way twice.  This delivers what I want from heavy music I will give this album a 10.