Red Fang
Whales and
Leeches
Another
really rather heavy record. In fact,
this makes Pelican sound like ELO.
In 10 years, Whales and Leeches
may well be considered a sludge classic, at least by those for whom that filthy
niche of the metal landscape is a place to call home. I’m not a sludge aficionado by any means, but this is so good it found its way on to my
radar.
I know that some sections of the metal press have gone rather weak at
the knees for it. If you want some
under-produced, high tempo riffs, then this is the place to come. Red
Fang are like the aural equivalent of a bull in a china shop, and be
assured that every last piece of porcelain is getting broken. There’s a comparative (comparative) commercial edge here, when this is stood next to other
sludge bands, which is probably why it has escaped its genre binds, sounding at
times rather more Recover (at least
on tracks like ‘Blood Like Cream’) than Iron
Monkey. It remains migraine-inducingly
good throughout, though.
Sample track: ‘Blood Like Cream’
Sample track: ‘Blood Like Cream’