Blacktusk
Taste the Sin
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Beastly Georgian trio, Blacktusk, bring hell’s hammers down heavy on their sophomore effort, Taste the Sin, like they’re taking out a whole bushel of rotten peaches in one abominable swing, splattering black juice and insidious worms all over the goddamn place. Baizley wrapped and disastrously brackish, Taste the Sin picks up where ‘08’s debut, Passage Through Purgatory, left off by heaping a whole mess of redneck rage onto the sludge metal artistry of bands like Baroness and Torche. The angry, pounding riffs burn like fire on the surface of an oily swamp and every one of the album’s 11 songs seethe and foam like acid on an open wound. Imagine the Cancer Bats with longer teeth or Zoroaster with shorter songs and you’ve got the Southern stoner death thrash of Blacktusk.

Note: I’ve seen the band’s name written several different ways, including Black Tusk and BlackTusk, but I have opted for Blacktusk. If any of the fellas in the band would like to offer up the official spelling of the band’s name, please drop me a line. Until then, I will stick with the one word, lower case ‘t’ version. For better or worse.

Listen to “Snake Charmer” from Taste the Sin!

Sometimes it’s nice to pause and reflect on the kind things people have to say. The other day I received an e-mail from Raf, the guitarist for Obiat. I recently reviewed Obiat’s new album, Eye Tree Pi, and apparently he liked it. He wrote, “If I would use only one description of our music out of all reviews from all over the globe it would be your review! Beautiful words yet perfectly describing our state of mind! Thank you!” You’re welcome, Raf. That’s one of the reasons I do this…

Ok, on with the list!

#22 Kylesa – Static Tensions

Normally I’m on guard about bands that just try to do too much, and with three different vocalists and two drummers, Kylesa walks that line. But I’ll be damned if they don’t make it work really well. It’s hard to pinpoint their sound, but if you called it a melodic hybrid of hardcore and pysch-metal, you’d be pretty close. Whatever it is though, it’s aggressive and sludgy, and if you’re at all familiar with bands like Baroness and Torche, you’ll dig Kylesa plenty. Plus, John Baizley of Baroness does the artwork on this one, and you know how I feel about his work. Conclusion? Static Tensions is just a great metal record.

Listen to “Scapegoat” from Static Tensions!

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Baroness
Blue Record
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Is it wrong that the thing I love most about a Baroness album is the artwork? I mean, just look at John Baizley’s latest creation for Blue Record (click the pic for full blue greatness). Killer! If Red Album taught us anything, it’s that the only way to enjoy a Baroness album is on vinyl, because then you get it ALL — the sound and the glory. And we mustn’t forget the sound. I know I said I love the art the most, but Baizley’s got another dimension and the Baroness sound is so devastatingly good, thick, and HEAVY, it’s nothing short of an impressive and throbbing aural extension of the visual boner that is Blue Record.

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