As the band name may intimate, this band plays it slow and sludgy, with a hefty southern tinge happening... and the songs are long. Four songs, 34 minutes, more than eight minutes each... you know the drill. I really like the singing, it's a fairly calm delivery with strong harmonies, definitely right on. Now and then they'll bust out a lead break, clean passages, or some shockingly fast tempos, or on the other hand some crawling sluggish chords, but most of the tempos rest right in that average slow range. I'm not sure the songs really warrant being as long as they are, as the actual riffs and structures are really basic and fairly typical, there's nothing I would consider drone-like or hypnotic about their approach, so at times the running times are overkill, but their overall style isn't bad at all. "Mother Trucker" is definitely diverse enough in its changes to make the 8+ minutes work, though. I wouldn't really compare these guys to any other band outright, but they're not particularly original, so I think you should have a good idea of what to expect if you're into the whole "stoner rock" thing, especially as far as the bands that keep the rock in check with a really hard hitting level of density and heaviness. That's not exactly to say that this is dark or doomy or whatever, but it rarely heads in that 70's vein if you know what I mean. The recording is really good for what they're doing. I think my only suggestion would be to even out the mix a little it, so that the vocals would drop in with the music more. But the bass sounds great and is actually distinguishable, the percussion sounds fine, and the guitar tone is thick and nasty with plenty of texture. The layout's not bad. It's mostly shades of red with black, there are a few band photos, the lyrics are included, etc. As far as content, the songs deal with pretty abstract topics in a sense, but I tend to like the way the lyrics flow. "The end is near to you and the sin you bought will be lost. There's no fire in your eyes. You buy what they sell, lost all meaning. Blood oaths seal your fate, this is your doom. You will do what you're told. Take heed of what I say, for this is your final warning." Not bad. I like this. It could be better, of course, but I would expect improvements fro them in the future. Once again fans of the Southern Lord jams should look out for this disc.
[Inimical]
Running time - 34:12, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: Mother Trucker, Lanced Off]
Inimical Records - http://www.inimical.com
