Ep Review - Druganaut 'Assemble'

Any regular visitor to this blog will know by know that we're big fans of Newcastle , England heavyweights Druganaut.And not without reason.With their debut EP 'Shake Your Bones', the Geordie doomsters established themselves as a band that not so much took no prisoners, and more force fed said prisoners a vicious cocktail of pills, cheap cider and overly strong dope , and shouted in their faces until said prisoners broke down in fits of, as Chris Morris might say, horrible tears.And while their newest effort 'Assemble' might be slightly less of an aural buggering, it's still sickeningly heavy, in all the best ways.

Opener 'Old Red' opens things up nicely, a warm southern fried guitar intro segueing into the mother of all weighty grooves , a mid paced , perfectly pitched stoner riff buoyed on by frontman Craig Relf's throaty roar .In fact it's Relf who acts as the bands ace in the hole. Coming from the Kirk Windstein school of lung bursting, throat flaying singing, Relf anchors songs with a distinctive, broken glass gargling delivery that adds an extra element of menace to the band's concrete riffola.

On the songwriting front , the band draw influence from the usual hotch potch of stoner influences, and one can spot less than subtle nods to Sabbath, Iron Monkey, The Melvins(particularly prevalent on the queasy bass intro to 'Denim Elliot') Crowbar, Down and a few others.Even early Machine Head can be felt in the band's streetwise groove, and it is fair to say the EP has somewhat of a classic metal feel, with a production that is crisp, clear while at the same time lending the band's guitar sound a nasty, sludgy edge that recalls Spanish doom lords Horn Of The Rhino in all their abrasive glory.The fact that the band clearly have a sense of twisted humour, evident in songs like 'Carradines Closet', a cheerily downtuned ode to everyone's favourite kung fu practicing pervert, just adds to the ear raping charm of these four songs.

All in all, this is mightily impressive stuff from a band who are slowly establishing themselves as ones to watch in the UK stoner scene, alongside the likes of Sigiriya and the legendary Orange Goblin, who the quintet are supporting for a couple of dates on their upcoming Uk and Ireland tour. Hopefully a full length can't be too far away.ASSSSEEEMMMBLEEEEE!!!!!

Rating:8/10

For fans of : Crowbar, Horn Of The Rhino, Two Tales Of Woe, Iron Monkey, Down

Listen to/Download the album here: http://soundcloud.com/druganaut-band

Stephen O ' Connor

bornagainnihilist@gmail.com