Album Review- Uncle Touchy 'Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Violence'

Formed in 2010 from various other local bands, TN, USA (but based in that sludge mecca Atlanta GA) , Uncle Touchy state on their band bio that they 'just want to make your stomach turn'.It's as basic and brutal a mission statement as you could hope for in an age where every man and his eight string bass playing dog is making concept albums about solar cycles and the like, and , in these ten pleasantly unpleasant tracks of noise rock filth, one can find a perfect escape from all things  lofty and high minded.It also rocks , just a bit.

 .Opener ' Body Hammer' is as low and fast a gut punch as you could  hope to open the album, spastic rage belted out over some awesome syncopated riffing. 'Tiretread on Burst Stomach'  follows with some supremely sick , fuzzed out bass that segues into a sludge rock monster reminiscent of a sicker(if that was possible) Melvins, before the album breaks out of the traps with a psychotic fury , taking in skewed grunge rock , angular , Jesus Lizard style riffing,and pure snotty punk rock fury.'Soft Skin' sets your lizard brain a tingling with warning signs of  an approach of  bad , bad juju, , with a jittery , staccato DEP esque riff underpinning a highly disturbing refrain of "He has his hands in your baby's pants", clearly the work of men who truly  couldn't give a fuck about mainstream acceptance.'Forced Out' is a rock and roll monster, while 'Shithawks at the Dinner' is all smouldering , subdued menace, and bobbing, feverish bass. 'Dimebagged' meanwhile is the sound of Anthrax being buggered by the hicks from Deliverance, an addictive thrash riff coasting along on a spiteful chant of  "You folks are all so fucking lame".Closer ' The Sensual Yet Forbidden Pleasures of the Ladyboys of Thailand' rounds off the album with a skin crawling ode to said 'ladies' of the night', that makes one worry about the leisure time activities of these Southern dirt bags, but nevertheless rocks like a bastard, and hints at a band that can not only abuse their various instruments , but also play them quite well when they want to.

Make no mistake, this is not pleasant music.There are no chest bursting stadium anthems, or lovelorn desert rock groove- alongs to coast into the sunset to.This is  nasty, confrontational stuff, grunge before the money men got involved, a sneering, 'fuck you' to suburban alienation and rock and roll cliches , made by anti social, unfriendly men who sound like they would rather pick a fight with you then creep on your girlfriend than shake your hand after a show.It's also rather brilliant,a searing love letter to punk rock's hey day, when the term meant slightly more than selling teenager's own angst back to them on a forty quid hoody. Go on , make em famous.That'll really piss them off.

Rating:8/10

For fans of :  The Melvins, Black Flag, Unsane, Tad, McClusky, The Bronx, Amen

Listen here:http://uncletouchy.bandcamp.com/

Album Review- Of Legend 'Cleric Of Samsara'

First of all , yes we know this one's been available for quite some time now.But, as hapless voyagers of time, space and the interweb, occasionally Born Again Nihilist will perceive the straits of the time-stream as being a year or two off where they should be, as we subscribe to the Dr Who mode of time travel, where time is non linear.That and we also live in a phone box.But yes, to the matter at hand.

Hailing from the hotbed of sludge metal talent that is Atlanta , Georgia, Of Legend play the kind of atmospheric , downbeat doom-tinged  post metal that suits the rainy mood of an Irish autumn perfectly, with a restrained approach to songwriting that is less about blasting the listener with endless noise, and more about creating a sense of desolation and space in their music , with some brilliantly understated riffing , and some excellent but not excessive use of effects to enhance their sonic  miasma.

Soundwise, the band invoke comparisons with , among others, the expansive explorations of Isis, but with an almost old school stoner/doom approach to some of the riffing.Listening to the morose , prowling riff that lies at the centre of album highlight 'Burial In Light' put me in mind, oddly, of some of the more downbeat work of Welsh shroom-doom kings Acrimony.There is also comparisons to be made with the tortured machinations of Swedish industro gloom kings Cult Of Luna, albeit mainly in Justin Burnham's heart rending roar, especially evident in the gorgeous 'Poseidon Swims' .Closer 'The Cleric' meanwhile breaks out of the band's sombre mould to stray into some Klone-esque groove metal territory, with a main riff that's just begging to be aired to a boozed up festival crowd in pissing rain .It should be said as well that throughout, the production is excellent, and beats the shit out of a fair few mainstream releases (cough Chimaira cough) that I've encountered this year.

'Cleric Of Samsara'  then, is a deeply impressive sophomore effort from a band with clear talent and a definite  potential to break out of the underground , and , while it doesn't quite scale the heights of some of  their peers at times, it comes damn close, rewarding repeat listens as it goes.The band are currently working on new material, along with a re release of 'Samsara', but in the meanwhile, draw the curtains, stick on some headphones and lose yourself in this slice of gloomy metallic riffola, after all, sunshine's overrated anyways . .. .

Rating:8/10
For fans of :Isis, Sleestak, People Of The Monolith, A Storm Of Light
Listen here: http://oflegend.bandcamp.com/album/cleric-of-samsara
Stephen O ' Connor, Born Again Nihilist(bornagainnihilist@gmail.com)