Diesel King ‘Concrete Burial’ CD/DD 2015

Diesel King 'Concrete Burial'

Brainhammer intends to bludgeon, I imagine. Right out of the gate, blasts this first song from the new release by Diesel King: Concrete Burial. Hoping the swing of the Brainhammer will subdue their “prey” (their audience), at first there’s a pseudo-quiet noise, like the sound of a door just opening slightly on a windy day or perhaps the band “cocking back” their swing, perhaps gaining the listener’s attention, then that hammer falls. Straight away, Diesel King fires all of its guns. Even vocals. Everyone just wails on you. Perhaps subduing, perhaps just sparking curiosity, this approach intrigues; fostering further interest. I enjoyed the fact that Brainhammer didn’t follow the traditional framework for songs. In doing this, I wanted to hear more.

Slowly, and sludgingly, Inferis starts up, the second song. I have to admit, the tempo, rhythm, and the vocal phrases along with the beat, I found catchy. I knew I would want to hear this one again; you know, when a song does that to you, instantly clicking on the “I like this one” stimuli in your brain. This one did it. What really impressed me, honestly, was that the Inferis didn’t stay permanently loyal to the song’s initial arrangement. As the song progresses, so does the song’s structure. Inferis affirms the band’s style or mission. Diesel King wants to take you on a technically competent, hard driving, structurally changing, pissed off ride.

As Inferis was kind of slower than fast and grinding, the pace picks up a bit going into song three, sharing the albums title: Concrete Burial. A foot may start to tap to the song’s upbeat rhythm. The band’s competency and technical ability shine here. We get the tempo changes, we get the sludge, we get the message: a kind greeting to the listener (victim) that finds themselves (metaphorically) laid in a grave, dead; along with a word of advice to “pray……to your god”

So, now that Diesel King has killed and buried you, being in hell, things get exciting I suppose, as inferred by an upbeat tempo that is next purveyed upon you, but then the middle just slows way the fuck down into the chorus to state the title of the song: Horror Disgust. The song’s cool and shit, but I felt that the intensity started to lack toward the end of the song with seemingly no definite direction or natural resolution. From my perspective, Horror Disgust and the one that follows, Facesplitter, could have been melded together to make a pretty tight, epic song. As they have displayed and laid out many complexities and rhythm changes by this point in the album, Diesel King continue the same with song four and five. However, whereas those earlier songs seemed to have a definite and individual respective cohesiveness, I didn’t see that in these two songs.

Then, in case you were sludging into a doom dream world, Diesel King gives a good smack to wake you up with Mask Of The Leper. Keeping in line with one of their foremost characteristics, Diesel King instantly hits you with a series of fast and furious blows with screams of anguish; that is, until they slow it way down again to wade through the sludge. Perhaps they intended this song to be a sort of between courses “sorbet” to note the album’s hub and to neutralize your ears. The thing is only a little over a minute long, reminding of the “instant” songs of hardcore punk.

Prone To Destroy and then The Mutilation bring the album to an end. The first few listens of these last two left me kind of disappointed in that they just deliver the same attributes as the rest of the album. After becoming more and more acquainted with Concrete Burial, however, I have to say that I began to be able to discern the individual merits each of the last two songs contained.

I enjoyed Concrete Burial by Diesel King. I wasn’t exactly gob smacked, but as I mentioned before, this band has interesting chord progressions, tempo changes, with monstrous growling, but mostly discernable, vocals. Competent at what they do, I have faith that they will only get better with future releases. I am interested in seeing how these future recordings come out and will be listening.

Label: When Planets Collide
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Scribed by: Brian Burroughs