Abominable Iron Sloth

After the mythical Abominable Iron Sloth was found frozen in the South American mountains during the last ice age, the hapless natives thawed him out, only to be mercilessly slaughtered by the behemoth. How this beast then made his way to Sacramento, CA and joined this group of like-minded Will Haven moonlighters is unclear, but this hardcore-turned-sludge band have released a wicked debut that will have all Iron Monkey fans rethinking depravity as careers anew. Brandishing the band’s titular sense of humour, openers "Hats Made of Veal and That New Car Scent” and "I’d Rather Die Than Fly” resonate like old Monkey with a rusty-nail injection of hardcore, like a doomier Kiss It Goodbye. The seemingly skipping coda of the Godflesh-like "A Hot Pink Shell of My Former Self” disrupts dark, industrial undertones like P.H.O.B.O.S. meets Abandon. "A Distant Pond from the Rivers of Human Limelight” begins with a familiar Sleep-like tempo, followed by a very effective breakdown with guitars and slower drum beats that increase the song’s tension. "The Family That Slays Together Stays Together” has Soulstorm-like transitions, and "Climax of a Nightmare” blends the most aggressive elements of Grief and Coalesce. "Sailing to the Edge of the Earth” closes the album as a quiet, Killwhitneydead-esque chromatic exercise with sampled whispers and echoing drums. It’s anybody’s guess if this is a one-off group, but hopefully the AIS will continue to snub their snouts at the current metalcore scene and linger longer in the murky depths of doom.