Lords Of Bastard – S/T – CD 2008
As the title of track three on this album so succinctly puts it…Fucking Hell!!! After being blown away recently by the Low Sonic Drift EP, this full length debut from the charmingly but equally awesomely named Lords Of Bastard landed on my doormat and fuck me, I was almost tempted to move to Scotland. If this is the quality of stuff that’s coming from north of the border it could well prove itself to be Britain’s newest musical hotspot!!!
You want stoner, doom, sludge, punk, thrash, noise…you got it. This is a maelstrom of riffage from start to finish. There is no point in trying a track by track run down here as each song seems to be crammed with more riffs and ideas than the first four Black Sabbath albums put together!!! The Lords seem to operate a use once then destroy attitude to song writing. Why revisit a riff when you have another great one waiting in the wings? Each track bins the verse/chorus ethos and heads on a linear path that flows from section to section seamlessly. Melodic refrains such as the “verse” section on “The Old ‘Reflection InThe Bathroom Mirror’ Trick” give way to a punked up thrash charge which may in turn plunge into a sub Electric Wizard with a flick-knife style doom and back again with scant respect for traditional structures. On paper it sounds like a nightmarish mess but on plastic this is a work of borderline genius.
Over the course of these ten tracks no song outstays its welcome. Given the number of ideas crammed into each song they remain succinct and focussed all wrapped up in a beautifully scuzzy, crusty production that sees the guitars buzz and the drums clatter in all the right places.
If you want the history of noisy rock and roll all bound up into one awesome album…and in some cases on here in one song…and have an equal respect for all things Rise Above, Amphetamine Reptile, Dischord and Small Stone then do yourselves the biggest favour and check these guys out.
Label: SL Records
Website: www.myspace.com/lordsofbastard
Scribed by: Ollie Stygall