Paleo – S/T – DD 2014

Imagine a mammoth stuck in tar, that’s about how Paleo describe themselves. This pure cavemen-sludge formation from Austin, Texas unleashes five tracks of heavy, sticky music that will grab hold of you. It won’t let you out easily. It’s pretty hard to get some further info on the band, due to the time period and the diet, but that is no problem. Here at the Shaman’s we like to talk about music and these guys are interesting enough with their minimal sound. There’s no vocals by the way, so time to dive into that tar pit.

March Into Darkness opens up with a monumental riff and slow, dull sounding but heavy drums. It’s really the slow stomping trod of a mammoth who’s moving in slow motion. It’s as if one caveman tuned a guitar as low as possible, why the other one is clubbing the drums with the same instrument he uses to kill shit. The pace is slow and steady, even so on Angostura. That song is a bit more frantic due to the drumming. The name refers to a medicinal plant from Venezuela. Perhaps it has some interesting side effects.

The gritty track flows over into the gargantuan riff salvo that is Anton’s Decent. This becomes a muddy flood of bass tones over its 10 minute growth. Some samples are played as if from underwater half way through the song, where the guitar riffs arise once more. The track displays a peculiar minimalism when even the drums are removed. Cold, long tones reverberate the last minutes and end the peak song of the record.

Paleo picks up that primitive groove again on Vampcamp. The sludgy stampede of that groove repeats itself for a few minutes before launching into It’s Alive, which must be the Paleo-take on bad horror movies. With a rough slap on the instruments the thing ends.

Paleo is for the people who like their tunes sludgy and dirty. There’s little subtlety to their organic onslaught of cavemen doom. They do it well though and leave no room for any pretence. An enjoyable record.

Label: Self Released
Band Links: Bandcamp

Scribed by: Guido Segers