As the name of this collection would indicate, herein are 14 tracks from 14 different Maryland/DC area bands viewed as representing a historically (or at-some-point-to-be-historically) significant element of the locale's stoner rock/doom scene. These are all supposed to be exclusive, rare, or new songs, though not being deeply entrenched in this genre I can't verify that, but if it is true I certainly commend Crucial Blast for that move. To my surprise Clutch opens this up, and I've never thought of them to fall into this category at all, but damn if "Sea of Destruction" doesn't! Admittedly I've not paid attention to Clutch in years, but this sounds nothing like the Clutch I remember!? Really this isn't a very good representation of their work at all, unless they've changed a shitload over the years!? Nonetheless, it's a good song, and doomy indeed. Earthride and The Hidden Hand follow suit, but it's not until Internal Void cranks in with the 70's dual guitar flare of "Black Wings of Deceit" that the comp starts to take a more diverse turn, as this cut is definitely a bit more unique and unusual. Life Beyond follows with one of my favorites here, a killer track that blends slick rock riffing with interesting rhythm patterns and a totally unique musical feel - not to mention strong singing that fits in with this style in classic fashion. The central riff in Nitroseed's instrumental "Class War" sounds like a Pearl Jam song, so that unfairly biases me against it (sorry, this is a decent track, but it's hard to overlook that tangent). Unorthodox kicks out another slightly darker and heavier track with some cool dissonant chords and more creative rhythms, but the following "Black Sky" from Countershaft pretty much sucks... it sounds like they used a drum machine (either that or some of the worst triggers ever) and the singing's really not cutting it. War Injun's recording is also a setback, a bit unbalanced and overly guitar driven (with oddly raspy vocals and too much texture to the guitars considering their loudness). Black Manta's track is straightforward in its rocking approach, but the vocals aren't working for me, making for a sudden three tracks in a row that aren't really worth it. Thankfully the raw and primal Leviathan AD takes charge afterwards with an absolutely punishing track of fucking menacing doom in "Breathing Rust": Distant, somewhat strained singing that possesses tons of feeling, backed by massively ominous chord progressions... by far one of the most sinister and forceful compositions herein (not to mention the longest at nearly eight minutes). Awesome. King Valley's piece is a bit more open and droning, oddly melodic, and grungy at times; Carrion's "Damned to Know" is more technical and quirky than some of the other pieces (granted the playing can almost be too sloppy to truly work), including more obvious metal influences; and then Los Tres Pesados close out with a pretty straightforward rocker with good vocal variation and unusual melodic sensibilities. The layout's been well handled with abstract depictions of DC area architecture and a complete booklet with one photo and credits for each band, as well as a lengthy history of the DC/Maryland doom scene spanning three panels of the insert. The history merely touches on a smattering of what's been going on in the area over the past 30 years (understandably, it's a CD, not a book), but goes back to Pentagram in the early 70's and closes by namedropping a slew of more contemporary artists. There are also a collection of links to other record labels and websites closely associated with the genre. The only minor, minor complaint I have about this CD is that most of the tracks seem to be pretty new, as in having been recorded within the last five or so years (unless I'm missing something), so there's not much of a literal demonstration of this locality's history within the doom scene, nor its roots (granted some of these musicians were active way back then). But, barring that, this is a generally killer set of songs that plays through with only one small hitch in the middle of the disc. Most of the bands have nice recordings that are warm and thick as would be expected from this style, and there are very few songs I dislike. I'd like to check out more from some of these bands as well, so this is a successful compilation.
[Crucial Blast]
Running time - 65:35, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Life Beyond, Unorthodox, Leviathan AD, Los Tres Pesados]
Crucial Blast - http://www.crucialblast.net
