Nether Regions: Into the Breach

Sometimes sludge-esque metal just doesn't make sense. How bands like Dark Castle or Neurosis make it compelling is beyond me, but rarely will anything else shudder the brain since it's frankly not easy to be a driving force in the genre with merely 3 instruments; it happens once a year perhaps. This is due to either copycats or self-indulgence, but Nether Regions aren't really guilty of either. However, they aren't very compelling anyway. Some bursts of talent are shown in the uptempo time changes of "Alpha/Omega" and the few clean bits of the record between "Pale Faced God" and "Outrun the Sun," but otherwise it's quite standard sludge/stoner metal: down-tuned riffing, triplet drum patterns, monotone rawrs, etc, all of which retrieving but a yawn for lacking any intensity or energy at all required for enjoying anything of this sort, all the more bizarre considering it was produced by Mike Lastra.

They seem to draw inspiration anywhere from Planet Caravan to High on Fire, where I forgo resorting to "copycat" since they come across as honest, yet it's strange to see many other reviews basically calling this the genre's record of the year. The wheel here is square, landing with a thud, or the occasional plop from mud, but they clearly are not doing anything new. Therefore, most sludge fans will enjoy this. Other reviews note a quality performance from the vocalist even though his quieter bits are generally off-key, though by now you know if you want to hear this or not so I'll shut up.

Track Listing
1. Into the Breach/Spanish Werewolves
2. Blood Ritual
3. Do You Live?
4. Your Name Is Madness
5. Pale Faced God
6. Alpha/Omega
7. Outrun the Sun
8. A City Far Enough Away

Added: July 29th 2012
Reviewer: Danny Heater
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1791
Language: english

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