Take As Needed For Pain…
EYEHATEGOD Classic
Review

Take as needed for pain – this is THE ultimate definition of Sludge. There wasn’t any band afterwards (and there will probably never be one) that could redefine the genre the same way as Eyehategod did back in 1993. From the first hint of feedback in its opener Blank to the last track Laugh it off, which consists merely of sick samples, this record is the blueprint for every other Sludge/Stoner band there is today. And even Eyehategod themselves describe TANFP as their best record. Although some of the tracks were written within ten minutes (according to guitarist Jimmy Bower), the whole record walks the thin line between sheer insanity and pure genius. Packed in a dazing artwork, TANFP is an all-time classic record that belongs in every serious record collection.
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/07-Take-As-Needed-For-Pain.mp3|titles=EYEHATEGOD Take As Needed For Pain]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/09-Crimes-AgainstbSkin.mp3|titles=EYEHATEGOD Crimes AgainstbSkin]

Let’s beginn with the riffs: the combination of Iommi-inspired guitar-play and Ginn-inspired feedback-mayhem never sounded better than on TANFP. Harsh feedback, a brutal slowness, sick samples and a neverending groove make the humid heat of New Orleans more vivid than any other record I know. Listening to this album feels like drowning in a pool of melt steel.

The totally fucked up lyrics, brought to you by the throat of Mike IX Williams, fulfill the picture of Eyehategod as a bunch of broke, wasted, drug-ridden bad asses. The song titles alone: Sister Fucker, White Nigger, Crimes against skin – it’s pretty obvious Eyehategod did not release this record to make friends.

Besides all the fucked-up-ness described here: TANFP contains only killer songs. Eyehategod change speeds, deliver more Sabbath’ish riffs than you thought could be possible and wrap it all up in songs you can distinguish from each other after listening to them for the first time. By the way, I think the speed changes happened more by accident than by purpose. But this makes a huge portion of the organic, muddy and, well, sludgy feeling of the record. You just can’t write kaputt masterpieces like this by using a drum computer.

If you don’t know TANFP you missed one of the best extreme metal records ever made. So if you don’t own it by now, better get your shit together and buy it right away or keep on listening to the Jonas Brothers.

Eyehategod – Take As Needed For Pain
Released November 22, 1993
Recorded Studio 13, New Orleans
Length 49:33
Label Century Media
Producer Eyehategod