Bluesy, sludgy, and absolutely filthy, Dopesick was a shock to the system for American doom metal bands. Debaucherous beyond understanding, Eyehategod play whiskey soaked, resin caked sludge metal that sounds like it crawled out of a mosquito infested swamp somewhere below the Mason-Dixon. When thinking about the lineage of doom, you really have to understand Dopesick‘s importance in cementing a place in the world of doom metal for America. While English influences ran strong, Eyehategod were part of a new wave of American metal bands who pulled more from Pentagram’s bluesy style, combining it with hardcore punk, thrash, and whatever else could be dredged up to create a decidedly American sound. With an album title like
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/09.-Methamphetamine.mp3|titles=EYEHATEGOD Methamphetamine]
Read the rest of this SICK Review after the jump!
The classic “My Name is God (I Hate You)” opens with the sound of singer Mike Williams’ screams and a shattered bottle (which he would later slice his hand open on and bleed all over the recording studio with). As a doomed out bass line guides into the song proper, feedback hisses and builds before dropping into a sludged out, slowed down riff, Williams’ screams echoing over the top like a madman. Lulled into a false sense of contentment, I couldn’t imagine a listener who was ready for the song the song to explode a little after two minutes in, violently transforming into uptempo hardcore punk before coming around again. These tempo changes would become one of Eyehategod’s hallmarks, leaving the unready listener literally floored at a live show when the groove would drop out into a no holds barred moshpit.
“Dixie Whiskey” is another near perfect track off here, a complex doom riff that could easily stand up to legend’s Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. William’s voice stands as a stark contrast to the riff, his throat vomiting every acid-burned word up with a hatred unparalleled. There’s a desperation in Eyehategod‘s sound; half lament, and half refusal to be buried under the sea of booze and drugs these guys have powered through the years. It’s no surprise sludge metal erupted from the South; it’s fragmented history, it’s longstanding musical traditions, it’s oppressive climate, all being compressed by the musical styles passing through and lingering. A song like “Methamphetamine”, with it’s intro hearkening back to Sabbath that builds on a restrained doomy riff plays off the uptempo punk track “Peace Thru War (Thru War and Peace)” perfectly. Closing with “Anxiety Hangover” was a perfect choice, it’s feedback heavy riffs punctuated by William’s unhinged screeches dissolving into an uptempo southern rock guitar lead that would make Stevie Ray Vaughn jealous. Just when you think it’s over it takes an even more extreme turn, William’s busting out with a hideous grindcore screech while the rest of the track dissolves into feedback. With the sound of a cable being unplugged it’s over. While Dopesick is broken up into many short tracks, most settling around the two minute mark, it clearly works best as a whole album, end to end.
Dopesick seems like the kind of album recorded in a marathon session. There’s a clarity to it’s unyieldingly hateful sound, a manifesto that embraced the low lifes and rural debauchery that must have spawned the band. Eyehategod pull you into their world with every throat searing howl, with their feedback laden guitar work, and unrelenting drums. It’s the perfect fusion of punk and metal that spawned an entire genre. Dopesick is a true classic You owe it to yourself to give it a spin. Whether this is the first or five hundredth time you’ve heard of Eyehategod, Dopesick is the kind of album that takes you to a very nasty time and place the moment the needle drops.
blahblahblah
September 16, 2011 at 6:14 am
Century Media screwed up the track listings on this album (among other things), so the song titled ‘Methamphetamine’ is really ‘Peace Thru War’ and vice versa.
VKFail
September 15, 2011 at 2:50 am
It’s Mike, not Mark, Williams.
But yes, it is a fuckin’ awesome album.