I was just
thinking…I love me some good old fashioned moody, sludgy, grooving doom. I also love me some good old fashioned
melodic vocals, with a little growl to ‘em, but still actual singing, ya
know? Not the typical growly stuff a lot
of doom bands favor, but some good old fashioned melodic hard rock and metal
vocals with some good old fashioned grit to ‘em. Kinda like a lot of the 90’s bands used, with
a lot of brooding anger. Maybe throw in
some hauntingly cool harmony vocals here and there too…yeah…kinda like Ozzy,
Chris Cornell, and Alice
in Chains thrown into a blender…it would have to be a black blender of course. Well hold on to your ear surfboards
Waveriders, cause I found just the thing.
Curse the Son’s Isolator
begins with the title track, featuring a quiet melody of subdued drums and
guitar behind some groovy mellow bass riffing before bursting forth with a wall
of heavy sound chugging along at a mid-tempo stomp behind melodic vocals, all
complete with stops and starts, fading out and back in at strategic
points. “Callous Unemotional Traits”
boils up to the surface next, slow and sludgy, with haunting harmony vocals
recalling the legendary sound of Layne Stayley and Jerry Cantrell with a pinch
of Mastodon thrown in. “Sleepwalker
Wakes” brings the tempo down even more, alternating between straight-time and
half-time, dialing up the sludge factor another notch while switching up to a
more melodic vocal approach reminiscent of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. Don’t get comfortable though Waveriders,
because just when you think it’s safe to get in the water again, “Hull Crush
Depth” envelops you in slow waves of sound alternating between ebbing tides of
subdued drums behind groovy bass guitar with psychedelic-tinged vocals one
moment, and tidal waves of fuzzy doom washing over your bow to send your ship
to the doomy depths the next.
“Gaslighter” continues the slow roll of the rising tide, but this time
opening with an infectious guitar riff doubled by the bass guitar behind bitter
lamenting vocals begging for forgiveness as they “drain your soul.” The evil tritones are on display again as
“Aislamiento” creeps up behind you with it's fangs ready before boiling down to
a sullen waltz of doom complete with airy passages of melodic bass riffing that
would make Lord Geezer Butler proud between layers of crushing distorted
guitar, before a killer drum and bass breakdown about 5½ minutes in before
building back up to carry the song out.
“Side Effects May Include…” erupts forth from the sonic ground with a
mid-tempo snarl of bass guitar before being joined by droning blades of sludgy
distortion and thundering drums with earthy vocals alternating between sky high
passages and low gritty ground level trips through the doomy mud. I think the side effects may include HEAVY!
Isolator is moody and heavy throughout, with lighter
passages interspersed within, and you can’t help but bob your head and tap your
leaden feet while listening. Guitar
solos are nowhere to be seen, but the bass riffing and wall-of-fuzz guitars
more than make up for their absence, and the drums are thunderous here, light
and airy there creating the perfect light and shade within the dynamics of the
album. So if you’re like me and you
prefer your doom moody, sludgy, and groovy, and your vocals melodic and gritty
with some hauntingly cool harmony vocals sprinkled about, check out Curse the
Son’s Isolator. Your ear
surfboards will thank you. Like totally
bro…
-Riffcaster
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