Lords Of Bukkake ‘Desagravio’ CD 2013

Lords Of Bukkake 'Desagravio'Doom, as you will be aware, is an ever expansive style made from individuals as far opposed as jumper wearing hipsters to no messing around crust dropouts. The sub-genre’s broad spectrum allows for a lot of different sounds to come under its miserable umbrella including the extreme and otherworldly sludge movement.

One band that are pushing the envelope in Sludge are Spain’s Lords Of Bukkake. Having a name you’d not wish to utter to your Nan or put in a search engine, Lords have been producing their own brand of depraved noise since 2003 and are now on album number three.

It’s fair to imagine that most readers will have a pretty weak knowledge of Spanish which is what all the band’s lyrics are shrieked in. This instantly gives the album a different edge not knowing what Lords are screaming about and allowing the music to do the talking.

Even without a knowledge of Spanish, it’s pretty clear that a bleak feel is what is being aimed for and four tracks of droning filth doesn’t make this a good one for the summer months.

Opener ‘Boca Acida’ is the exact kind of minimalist terror people have come to expect from Lords with a grinding bass tone and harrowing vocals. Although this style is extremely well executed, it’s hardly unique and as a stand alone sound would have probably sank the band into obscurity.

What saves Lords is occasional dashes of experimentation that range from moments of tranquility to fierce instrument bashing. The psychedelic middle section in the aforementioned ‘Boca Acida’ is easily the album’s highlight, showing a totally different side to their sludgey core and making their sound a bit more noteworthy in the process.

Although most of ‘Desagravio’ is largely a minimalist offering these elements demonstrate that three accomplished musicians have chosen this as a purposeful route rather than some bands who are just plain clumsy. The interesting drums on the album’s title track also shows this with an approach rarely found on a sludge record.

Coming in at just under 50 minutes, their latest opus is an all or nothing offering that makes the most of its strengths. Listening to one track in isolation will not do it justice and for the most uneasy listening it’s probably best to get this spinning on a winter’s night when any kind of Lynyrd Skynyrd vibe has vanished from your life.

This album will neither be the best or worst album you’ll hear this year in the sub-genre and ultimately will probably not be remembered in decades to come. That said, it is certainly a solid offering by musicians that clearly have thought things through rather than delivering solely what’s expected.

Label: Totalrust Music
Website: www.facebook.com/pages/Lords-of-Bukkake/107151712788724

Scribed by: Alex Varley