For the last few years, these guys (the lady seems to have quit the band before this album’s recording) have been sorta hyped it seemed. They toured with stoner/sludge metal staples Kylesa and Weedeater. They have split releases released with Black Tusk and planned with Burning Love. I had been hearing about them on blogs around the internet and so when I saw their name pop up on our list I pounced on the chance to review it. Weeks later, I’m still struggling on what to say about it.

First off, the album has yet to grab me. Standard noise rock fare with fuzzy bass, muffled vocals and rocking riffs is what we have. Imagine Red Fang slowed down a few notches and stripped of their fun catchiness. Surely, that has to appeal to somebody. The band never picks up the pace and blazes away as their riffs might lead one to imagine them as capable of doing. There are moments when actual emotions are exhibited like in the shouting of “GOD IS DEAD, SO AM I” in Should’ve Worn Black, but even that catharsis is masked in layers of midtempo, galloping riffs. Maybe what I’m simply expecting isn’t what they are intending on providing. The distortion seems to call for something heavier, but that isn’t in the agenda. Instead, the guitars build a swirling distortion that sweeps you up and never takes you anywhere. It’s like stepping in mud and getting your foot stuck. It’s gritty and grimy and it doesn’t go away. These are all horrible descriptions, I know, but this album is an oddity for me. Lacking the intensity of metal, but providing the characteristics of what I want to hear, its overall sound only suits particular moods.

The first half of the album is a much weaker job than the latter half and given that I have reached that point of the album while writing, maybe something more lucid will come out. Shallow Grave is a straightforward track compared to the last few, making that earlier Red Fang comparison a little more apt. Goner begins with an almost Alice in Chains like melancholic riff before kicking into the swing of a doom track. The track screams for vocals yet oddly is only an instrumental, making it kind of a tease. I Am the Corpse builds up in an awesome way, becoming seemingly more and more complex without working up to any crescendo really.

I’m not giving this album much credit and I think rightfully so. Several times while listening to it, it has actually grabbed me. Yet those are too few and far between. The album lacks focus in its writing and listening to it lends me to lose focus and it quickly becomes background noise to my drive home from school. A few cool moments can’t save an album of lackluster noise.

Here it for yourself here.