Deadbird

The unlikely locale of Fayetteville, Arkansas is where the hideous beasts known as Deadbird call home. I feel sorry for that town, as any place that can create music as repulsive as this must have some issues. On The Head and the Heart, this four-piece (guitarist/vocalist Chuck Schaaf used to play in another difficult sludge band, Rwake) create a doomy dirge of a disc that is equal parts slow-motion sludge, atmospheric tinkering and extreme sonic heaviness. First thing that stands out here is the daring production: I fucking love it — sounding quite literally like it was recorded in a garage, the treble of the cymbals distort and the vocals cut through the low-end. What the hell they were thinking is anyone’s guess, and it’s a sound that’s going to repel many, but there is a beauty in it that can’t be denied. This also sums up their music quite nicely; it’s antagonistic, belligerent and serenely thought-provoking all at once, and a nightmare that does not sound good at ten in the morning, but sounds perfect late at night on the headphones. Prickly and standoffish, this is one heck of a good album.