Dopethrone: Broke Sabbath

Quebequois three-piece Dopethrone has been active since 2008, and trade in a grim and sleazy combination of sludge, deathdoom and various nefarious other metal and hard rock subgenres. Their degenerate lyrical topics encompass cannabis, murder and drug abuse. According to the press release for this album, "the band refers to their music as 'Slutch,' the Canadian term for cold sludge or dirty mud snow." What's not to love, right?

Dopethrone has so far released six studio albums and extensively toured Europe and Canada. The "delicately baked'' Broke Sabbath is the latest to drop from the French indie label Totem Cat Records, and will be followed by spring and summer shows in North America and Europe.

So let's get right to it.

Straight away, the massive wallop and primitive heft of Vince on guitar and vox, Vyk on bass and Shane on drums reminds me of Electric Wizard, Cough, eyehategod and Acid Witch, which is not a bad thing at all. Grim, misanthropic song titles like 'Life Kills You" reinforce the band's mission to spread chaos and terror in their path. "Life" reminds me a bit of Entombed's death and roll stylings as well with more than a bit of Carcass' Jeff Walker present in Vince's vocal inflections. The triad's steamroller assault on their listeners is bracing and salutary, casting off waves of excess in every direction. While it's not subtle, it certainly gets the job done.

Similar to bands like Ministry, Dopethrone strategically deploys movies and other samples to enhance the rich texture of their tracks. "Truckstop Warlock" is an absolute banger, opening in a haze of feedback and crashing in successive waves, with VInce's phlegmy growl driving the narrative. The titular character, the "lizard looking cult m********r who runs the f******g thing" reminds me of something from the Splatterpunk novels of the late Ray Garton, and there's even an Easter Egg nod to Bowie and the Runaways.

"ABAC" gives shivers of voodoo madness in this tale of a demon that comes calling. The song wallops us with lurching mammoth riff attacks buckled in to the Vyk and Shane's rhythm section. Vince's lead work shines on this track. "Shlaghammer" stutters to a start and then bangs the same gong the preceding songs have led us to expect.

At this point, unfortunately, it becomes clear that despite the promise of their earlier albums, Dopethrone has stagnated, as it's increasingly difficult to distinguish the songs from one another. "Rock Stock" has a soup base of a porno-adjacent sample and a titanic beginning that swiftly morphs into a dreary retread of song structure. "Uniworse" has a great title but doesn't deliver on the premise. "Sultans of Sins" brings the album to a close with a bludgeoning variation on the Dire Straights classic. "Everybody in the room is now dumber for having listened to it" is the concluding sample--not without irony.

It's highly possible that future listenings may repay the investment of time and attention and reveal new layers and elements to me, but at this point I can only recommend this album for doom/stoner rock and Dopethrone completists. The 3.5 stars is for the excellent musicianship and clever lyrics, marred by a weary perpetuation of musical tropes we've heard a thousand times before, done much better. Given the band's stellar track record, one can only hope that Broke Sabbath represents a minor slump; there's certainly room to recover.

TRACKLIST:
1. Life Kills You
2. Truckstop Warlock
3. ABAC
4. Shlaghammer
5. Rock Slock
6. Uniworse
7. Sultans of Sins

Added: May 22nd 2024
Reviewer: Alex S. Johnson
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 575
Language: english

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