Fister : " Graceless"

 

One of my favorite extreme sludge bands is back. They focus on crushing violence this time around with the mammoth crunch that opens this album. The vocals hacked up from the pits of their charred lungs with convincing aggression. The lumber of the riff trudging with weighty chugs is impressive by anyone's standards. The second song oozes from the opening track and finds more atmosphere seeping in to make things darker, which of course is going to win me over. Synths even find their way into things, though they are just another layer in the thick wall of creepy ambiance washing over the down-tuned chords. The agonized quality of the vocals is harrowing. 

"Nightmare Visitation" opens with the hesitant strum of chords, before sprawling out for 11 minutes. At a minute and a half into the song, the drums commit to a beat. The scowl of the vocals follows shortly after this. It is the closest to post-rock that I have heard them touch upon.  There is an impressive ebb and flow that is more melodic than what you expect from these guys. They are pulling some impressive sounds from these guitars. In the last few minutes of the song, it takes on a more jammy feel. Yes, even when it comes to these guys, I think there is fat that can be trimmed here.

The title track carries a stark echoing atmosphere, the snarl of the vocals provides a grounding contrast to, the aching melody rings out. Though it does build in the more expected metal manner. "Bone Breaker" hammers down with more malice. A chilling tremolo-picked guitar line comes in to sweep the song down a darker corridor. The last song makes me think of my rule that sludge is just what happens when punks try to play Black Sabbath; this is a more aggressive version of that theory. I will give this a 9 and see how it grows on me, but as of right now, I am digging it and you will too if you like your sludge on the more devastating side. 

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