Today
we are sticking close to home and giving you the honest lowdown of “Spirit Vine” by Lotek Cruiser, a Kitchener, Ontario based band that writes, as it
was introduced to me, “Doom and Sludge” filled songs. This has the chance to be
something new which few bands manage with this style, or something old/boring
which a lot of bands manage with this style.
“Blackheart” kicks off the album with
the perfect level of Groove and Sludge blend, taking a page from the books of Crowbar and early Mastodon “Spirit Vine”
kicks off on an absolute high point. The first half of the song its mid tempo
headbanging destruction, the main riff is absolutely killer and gives the album
attitude while the vocals add a level of much needed grittiness. This riff will
continue after a small section where the riffs and everything are slowed down
and allows the listener to catch their breath.
“Plotting Forward” is another insanely
strong song, this time taking more of a page from a band like Lord Dying but the Crowbar influences are always there. “Plotting Forward” is a bit slower and while the riffs aren’t quite
as memorable the vocals in this sound like pure anger and make you want to
break something. This song is actually a lot of fun to listen to and just focus
in on the drumming, normally with the sound of style Lotek Cruiser have the drums
are pretty standard but they stand out in “Plotting Forward” being a bit more
experimental and extreme.
Given
it’s a three song EP and i only mentioned two songs you can guess that there’s
one weaker one, “Buried Under the
Morning Sun” doesn’t quite stand up the way the other two do, but luckily
it’s in the middle of the album. With this song in the middle of the album you
listen to it and go “yeah alright” then the next song starts and you’ve kind of
forgotten about it.
All in
all this is a really strong release from Lotek
Cruiser, normally the Doom sound doesn’t really pull me in, but the style
of this band and their unique approach to some sounds and the catchy as hell
riffing really made it easy to dig. A+ to these guys for releasing something so
overly done but making it fresh, I highly suggest anyone and everyone check out
“Spirit Vine” by Lotek Cruiser on Bandcamp, there’s
something for everyone in these songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment