It's been a bit too long since I've sat down to review a new record. Frankly, I cannot imagine a scenario when it hasn't been too long.
Today, I feel like I need to head off some comments before they come to pass. Folks who make requests of vinyl promos are often looked at as jerks. If you look at my history, the vast, vast, vast majority of my posts have been without any vinyl.
In 2020, I had several vinyl reviews lined up before the pandemic hit. Then I had zero and that was fine. Instead of waiting for these bands to have some more money and feel like they could send me those free records, I opened up my wallet and bought them...and in many cases still wrote about those records.
It's been a long pandemic and we've had losses of some kind or another during this time. So I'm thrilled that Rope or Guillotine Records won't take my no's for an answer and still sent me records.
Thank you for all the support you've given me and this silly endeavor. I have a note from Jakka and Erik in my possession, but I need to send one to them.
Because they sent me two to review, in the same box, I'm going to do my very first ever vinyl roundup.
UP FIRST...
crosshairs by Resent
One of the things I love about Rope or Guillotine Records is how off center the music they release is. Jakka and I recently had a nice chat on Instagram Live about it.
Resent is from the most beautiful city of Victoria, British Columbia. There's no way I could ever completely get across to you how deeply I wish to enter this wonderful province.
When I look at scenes, as it were, the British Columbians tend to give me a lot of doom metal or sludge metal, if you prefer.
Living outside the hustle and bustle of Vancouver must slow life down. Those forests must cause it. What else could it be?
This one though...
A quick scroll through their history shows they're a bit on the deranged side of things. The forest must be their refuge from the modern world, from those who wish to change them.
As I listen to their music... it becomes clear to me that I wasn't wrong in my snap judgment of them. In 2020, this is just what I need in order to move through the grime and the muck.
Their riffs slime their way through the gutters into the sewers and there they are cleansed. Feedback rings during every single pause. It's indicative of the feedback our bodies send to us every time our boss asks us to do something that's not our job, of every time someone nearly sideswipes our car in traffic, and every time we have to stop for fast food instead of cooking at home.
The lyrics, in number are thin, but in spirit are stout.
Those seeking to find the will of the riff will be worshiping at this altar for months, but those looking for the Patron Saint of Guitar Solos will cast this record into the flame.
Seek not the technical ecstasy of Dream Theater, but the simple power of Un when spinning this record.
With eyes unclouded.
This is probably going to be a somewhat shorter review of this EP than it would normally get, but I've been holding onto this record for too long and frankly, I couldn't figure out their name for awhile...
You might also notice in the video that I may have been holding up the wrong side of the record while unboxing it.
This is my advice to all bands...make sure we can clearly learn your name quickly...
This EP though, it's the first one to be reviewed on my newly upgraded turntable. My Ortofon 10 M was delivered on Friday and I'm listening to this now.
This dirty, nasty, sludge metal is just jumping out of the grooves and pummeling my soul. This is the kind of music Cultes Des Ghoules could make if they were just a lot angrier.
And crazy.
If you're looking for 23 minutes of absolutely insane sludge metal, you have two legitimate choices as I see them.
1. You could buy this record and spin it and spin it.
2. You could drink a fifth of whiskey and argue with yourself for the next 12 hours.
That's what I see as I listen to this...an insane asylum...a man...arguing with himself...he wants out, but he's there forever.
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