|
By
Vinnie Apicella
It only takes one look at the unsightly album cover to know this isn't
gonna be easy, on the eyes, ears, nose or throat. Leechmilk, first up,
and like a whip cracking across the smooth orb of a healthy mind, serious
cerebral damage is only seconds away. In pure Death-rated Doomed and
Goddamned discourse, Leechmilk features grinding riffs, blood curdling
screams-or milk-curdling if you prefer, might go down easier, the key
here is that the vocals are the next step up from the outcry of the
last of a dying breed! Hailing from the deep South, it's south of the
border terror of the worst kind-nearly Black borderline Death in disguise,
"Of Wall," "Dirt Clot," "Salt Lick." imagine your worst nightmare, waking
up, doesn't go away, your thoughts turn dark, your heart beats faster,
suddenly you draw your last breath, and there's King Neptune jabbing
you in the ribs, offering his tail as he guides you into the blackest
forever. Sick riffing and pure sludge in the finest swamp dwelling tradition,
the music, loosely termed, loud, lowly ground, little variation, mortar
to pestle action, and much like an unceremonious human burial, the locusts
will have their feast. Sofa King Killer right out of the bowels of the
wild West, run roughshod over the Sabbath stones, in a creepy dark and
deranged style of play, the riffs, catchy, standout-"Take Me Up On That,"
first tune of the seven offered, but the vocals are completely buried
into the ground. There's little use for them anyway but overall the
recording's God awful even considering we're doomed and damned for all
eternity, expectations are that like a last cigarette, we should be
offered a final dying glance at our attacker. "So Was Red," is pure
dread, gruff vocals beyond the bounds of human decency-Sometimes trudging
on all out noise, if this is how the South might look if it did indeed
rise again, send it straight back, this is downright nasty. "Cajun Lady"
is a ninety second throwaway instrumental but a good lead up to "Fearless
Shadow," easily the best of the lot-quickened pulse, hammering riffs,
pounding fury-a Devilish romp through the dusty old town of Dry Gulch-there
ain't a drop left cuz these bastards drank it all and spat it out while
they played-at least I'd assume as much from the last tune. "Backdoor
Thang's" another bullet in the chamber, I like the groove to this one,
but I'm gonna be real careful before I start throwing some of these
retro-fitted Stoner style acts around for reference-both these bands
are way more brutal and built more from the many spare parts from the
mammoth Sabbath machine. Also goes down hard with Electric Funeral,
Sloth, Angel Rot, Venom. Eyehategod, and those forbearers of black cloud
cover and rain over a beautiful spring day types. Vile, vulgar and loathsome,
note for note, song for song, an imaginative Hell over an edge of sanity,
on both counts, that'll warm your heart, put a hole in your head, then
gallop over your still writhing body as they ride off into the distance.
Their shared cover features plenty o' indigestible illustrative nuggets
to adorn every dark and sadly disfigured angle. sleep well pilgrim.
More Ear Busters
© 2001, BBHrdRpt
|
Leechmilk
