A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Black Label Society’s Doom Crew Inc. 2LP. Funny thing about the bands and/or projects launched by guitarists, they tend to focus heavily on guitar. It is not uncommon, for example, for songs on such albums to feature extended examinations of the guitar as the central thematic and sonic element of every composition; the instrument functions more as the spine of the songs than the drums or bass or piano do. One needn’t...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Mastiff’s Leave Me The Ashes of the Earth LP. There has always been something which felt a little off about really aggressive metal (or Doom, or Sludge, or maybe Metalcore – pick your favorite undervalued sub-genre) – as greasy, heavy or dirty as it might get, there’s always an inherent clarity about the recordings. Even when the vocalist in a band like that is leaving his throat/larynx/esophagus on the recording studio floor,...