Album Of The Week : Shrüm - Red Devils and Purple Ringers

Acid Bath's stature in the southern metal underground speaks for itself, and the fortunes of bands that rose from its' ashes such as Goatwhore and Agents of Oblivion have been more then adequately documented. However, bassist Audie Pitre's side project, Shrüm, a unique act featuring two bass guitars to create an insalubrious sonic effect, has been largely ignored.

Anyone who's given Acid Bath a listen will be more than aware of Audie's musical prowess, and Shrüm serves as another example of his riffwriting talents, in a slightly different context. Shrüm doesn't have the organic sludgyness of any of Acid Bath's works, instead favoring a more processed, industrial soundscape. However, they maintain the lurid, nefandous nature of Audie's main band, perhaps even more so given the total absence of clean vocals, with similarly OTT lyrics, such as "fucking her as she dies" from Psychedelic Abomination

While the material never comes close to bona fide classics such as Finger Paintings of the Insane and Venus Blue, it has a few high points, such as the pretty instrumental Michelle Song and the Iommi worshipping riffage of Tears of a Marionette. The sheer aggression and ominous industrial textures make this an interesting listen, even if the rather one-dimensional death growls start to grate after a while.

This was to be Shrüm's one and only album, and bassist's Audie Pitre's last ever, as he was tragically killed in a drink-drive incident the same year. Not essential by any means, but those wishing to delve deeper into the enigmatic legacy of Acid Bath could do a lot worse than give this a listen.

6.5/10

Highlights : "Drip", "Michelle Song", "Tears of a Marionette".

See also - Acid Bath, Goatwhore, Nailbomb, Buzzov.en.

Ian Anderson - Live at Citibank Hall, Rio de Janeiro, 15th May 2011

And so to my final concert in Rio de Janeiro. The gig was of enough importance to merit a mention in Brazil's prime media corporation O Globo. The article pointed out how Anderson had mentioned to journalists at the time of Jethro Tull's first concert in Brazil (1988) how he preferred Scotland's grey skies and subzero temperatures to Rio's eternal summer, which causou polêmica among weather-proud Brazilians. Fortunately for him, the gods seemingly answered his prayers, with torrential rains before the gig and the lowest temperature recorded in Rio this year (a brutally chilling 18° Celsius...).

The gig was at the same venue as Ozzy's show last month, and benefited from the same excellent acoustics. This was my first all-seated show ever, which was fine by me - I could sit back and drink expensive beer to the awesome music of Jethro Tull all night, which is what I do on many nights anyway. Much criticism has been banded about regarding Anderson's weakening voice - this can't be denied, but his flute playing and stage presence is still awe-inspiring. For a 63 year old he is far from sedentary - Anderson struts around brandishing his small metal instrument, playing some excellent improv. and acting as a great showman to boot. His backing band do a quality job too, all brilliantly proficient at their instruments, giving their own take on the old stuff too.

Despite being billed as a rarities setlist , a great deal of Jethro Tull classics were played - the excerpt of 'Thick As A Brick' being undoubtedly the highlight, and for the obligatory set-closer "Locomotive Breath" the crowd abandoned their seats and moved as close as possible to the stage. Slightly disappointed at the lack of anything from Heavy Horses though, but it was good to see a few hidden gems - 'Up To Me' from the Aqualung album and 'Budapest' from 1987's Crest of a Knave. The instrumental jams were excellent too - the band paying copious amounts of homage to Bach and World music in equal amounts. You wonder what the average Brazilian makes of the lyrical content - what other artist can sing about their pets, dervishes, sardonic takes on religion, backstage encounters with girls and the Vietnam war over the course of one gig? 45 years in the business now, Anderson may have fallen from such heights as the folk-rock trilogy era of the late 70's, but he certainly isn't Too Old For Rock 'n' Roll just yet.

Jack

Album Of The Week : Soilent Green - Confrontation

Soilent Green, the legendary head bludgeoners from Louisiana, released their forth album in 2005, Confrontation. Famed for their unorthodox approach to metal, adding jazz and blues into their frenetic deathgrind mix, even if they're not everyone's cup of tea you can't deny their sheer originality and audacity

Confrontation, like it's predecessors, is the aural equivalent of having a binbag put over your head and dosed with copious amounts of LSD before being thrown into the lion's den. The third track, "A Scream Trapped Underwater", being a perfect example. It opens with an off-kilter groove riff before morphing into some classic death metal and blastbeats, with vocalist Ben Falgoust screaming "Blood on my hands, Blood on my hands" in a satisfyingly er, brutal fashion. Then you have the mind-boggling middle section, a classic blues lick fed through guitarist Brian Patton's tech-orientated mind, there's no way you can headbang to this, one has to just sit back and let the weirdness flow over you.

This is undoubtedly the highlight of the album, but the first real song, "Leaves Of Three" is a good track too, in fact there are quite a few other decent numbers found across the record. In between the more savage metal assaults are short intro tracks which wouldn't be out of place on a country record. Even if this is nice respite from the intensity of the rest of the record, they feel a touch contrived, unlike the small preludes to tracks on Sewn Mouth Secrets, which for me fit perfectly and enhance the song greatly.

This serves as a good introduction to the rest of Soilent's stuff, if you are struggling after the first few songs on this record you might as well give up. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy the wacky nature of The Dillinger Escape Plan and southern metal.

7/10

Highlights : "Leaves of Three", "A Scream Trapped Underwater"

See also - Goatwhore, Eyehategod, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Pantera.

Album Of The Week : The Hidden Hand - The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote

Scott "Wino" Weinrich, is unquestionably one of the biggest legends in underground heavy metal. Turning fifty later this year, the man is in his Indian summer, currently on an acoustic tour of the U.S with a fellow acolyte of uncompromising heavy music, Scott Kelly. It's beginning to seem a little clichéd for an aging metal frontman to pick up an acoustic and calm down, but for Wino it has no feel of contrivement - just check out some of the tracks off Adrift, it's nothing less than stunning. Some have labelled this as a rebirth for the doom metal godfather, but the truth is that he has never died, his creative flame hasn't even flickered. Over thirty years of stunning songwriting in a variety of bands, each with their own idiosyncratic nature, and with an intransigent attitude to music that has seen him garner tonnes of respect from his peers, Wino has burnt a mark on heavy music that few others can claim to have done. I thought this is as good time as any to reflect on his career and have a look at one of his albums.

Anyone sad about the demise of the excellent Spirit Caravan in 2002 didn't have long to wallow, as Wino wasted no time in assembling a new band the same year, by the name of The Hidden Hand. The first two albums are damn hard to get hold of, so I had to settle for the band's final effort, The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote. The album opens with the short but sweet Purple Neon Dream, with everything you'd expect from a Wino encarnation, with his trademark fuzzy guitar tone and soulful vocals, yet still sounding incredibly fresh and exciting. Aside from a few less-than-excellent tracks, the rest of the album is filled with raw, melodic and soulful post-doom/stoner rock. The highlight has to be the albums closer, Slow Rain. Co-vocalist and bassist Bruce Falkinburg takes the mic. for the first half, a psychadelic sludgy affair, before an awesome instrumental jam mid-song is concluded by Wino's vocals entering, sounding incredibly powerful and commanding, his lyrics as inspiring and poetic as ever.

People will point to the anthemic Born Too Late and Wino's work with The Obsessed as career highlights, but little of the man's output can be considered weak. This is another excellent chapter in Wino's career, and a great starting point for first time listeners.

7.5/10

Highlights : "Purple Neon Dream", "The Lesson", "Slow Rain"

See also - Spirit Caravan, Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath, Sleep, Clutch, Down.