Beaten Back to Pure "The Burning South" CD
[This Dark Reign]
Here's the latest full-length from this curious Virginia act who takes their own spin to the southern tinged sludge/doom rock style. I'd definitely say this is a step forward for the band, not to mention something different. There's a lot going on, from darker singing vocals and ultra throaty growled yells to melodic lead breaks, eerie clean guitars, and pounding chord progressions. Comparisons to Alabama Thunderpussy have been drawn in the past, and that still stands to some degree, both vocally and with some of the music, but I'd definitely say this is a bit darker in an aggressive sense. There's certainly a lot of all out rock here, but the guitar tone is definitely pretty chunky and textured, and the vocals really add to that. I think the gritty rawness of the recording is really killer as well. It took me some getting used to, but the dry warmth of the percussion and pulsing bass notes set a solid foundation for guitars and vocals to take control and really get down and dirty. The songwriting messes with some unusual time signatures and changes too, so it never gets stale or sits in one place for too long. "One Shovel and a Place to Die" is definitely among the chunkier and more oppressive tracks, with a good midpaced rhythm spiced up by some killer acoustic guitars, samples, and intense melodic elements. The vocals and some of the lighter guitar parts in "Where the Sewer Meets the Sea" are a bit more obscure and unusual, and this is one of the pieces that definitely lets the basslines really roam wild and take their own shape. "Running Out of Neck", meanwhile, has several blazing lead breaks against sick dissonant melodic rhythms and changes up quite a bit from flat out gruff rock 'n' roll to a doomier sort of delivery that's much more sinister - followed by an unlisted piece with soft clean guitars and singing that ends the disc on a very surprising note. The layout looks pretty unusual, with mostly sketchy, scribbled illustrations of designs and lettering over confederate flag images smattered with guns and skeletal figures, etc. The lyrics are pretty fucked up with a lot of this material, keeping it abstract but suggestive, creatively so, and hitting on a lot of pessimistic, bleak imagery and topics... definitely uncommon: "Pro-active in every phase, The ocean makes infidels pay, Time for the rise of shame, Get down on all fours, I draw my clawhammer and reign down vengeance on whores..." This one's definitely worth checking out for the crowd that's into this particular style. They're sticking true to their past as well as the roots of the genre while definitely pushing for something different and more creative. And they definitely pull it off. It's "traditional" enough, in a sense, to keep diehards in line as well, so... I'm expecting their next one to be a real monster that will elevate them to the next level. (7/10)
Running time - 37:54, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Smothered in Sundress, One Shovel and a Place to Die, Pillars of Tomorrow, Piles of Yesterday]
This Dark Reign Recordings - http://www.devildollrecords.com

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