Goatsblood

Vancouver's Goatsblood are slowly building up a buzz around themselves, based on their devastating live show and now this, their second full-length. Drull is Canada's own sludge masterpiece, reminiscent of Eyehategod in a big way, but also bringing to mind all the other biggies of the misanthropic subgenre (think Buzzov*en, Grief, hell, throw in some Melvins). And Goatsblood do it oh so well, especially those devastating slow-motion one-note one beat per minute anthems to crawl to your miserable death to. There are some more upbeat numbers to be found here, but eventually the feeling of pure oppression oozes over the listener, making every song sound the same, every nanosecond the same as the last, nothing but misery, hatred and the loss of hope. Yup, doesn't get a whole lot better than this; even the artwork is cool, the production (care of Steve Austin of October tour-mates Today Is the Day). For the attentive listener, there are even some smatterings of melody (gasp!) to be found. All in all, a very cool release, but hard as hell to get through in one sitting. And, yes, sure it's a bit redundant, but faced with such perfect musical punishment that doesn't matter. Just put it on and feel the pain.