vote
6.5
- Bands:
IRON MONKEY - Duration: 00:53:32
- Available from: 04/05/2024
- Label:
-
Relapse Records
Iron Monkey: a name, a guarantee. The Nottingham band, since 1997, has always been the fifth column in the Land of Albion of a certain way of understanding sludge typical of the southern United States.
A dirty, raw sound, heavy like used engine oil and charas – the use of which is well known and evident in the band’s most psychotropic digressions.
Compared to the previous “9-13”, here the drums of the new entry Ze Big (already active in the past in Widows) are more in line with the classic sound of the band; the frequent hardcore uptempos used by the meteor Scott Briggs on the previous album are missing, with the result that, in some ways, the trio is even wilder, putting into play a primordial sludge that exudes the smell of swamps and mephitic fumes.
The album, however, on the whole is a little too homogeneous, a slap in the face that is certainly effective, but with few peaks – even if, probably, it is a widespread evil that historical bands of this genre cannot escape – per se obsessive and rhythmic self – as they grow older.
However, “CSP” certainly deserves mention, hypnotic and malignant, with feedback that makes your ears bleed, and the chaotic “Rat Flag”, interesting in its contrast between doom slowdowns and d-beat – successfully reinstated here.
In essence, to take stock of “Spleen & Goad” it is necessary to look at the entire history of Iron Monkey, a band that had reached an almost mythological status in the mid-nineties, made even more relevant by a split that lasted almost twenty minutes. years. Their return to the scene in 2017 had divided fans, but at least it showed some interesting signs of change, or simply the inevitable transformation of musicians who had no longer played together for fifteen years.
If you are absolutely nostalgic for their eponymous debut, this new album will certainly not disappoint you, but if you think that another seven years of waiting, in addition to the hiatus mentioned above, deserved a further test of courage, you will limit yourself to a smug smile and nothing more.
