If there is one word that could accurately describe this album it would without a doubt be "pedestrian". This is NOT a very good way to start out listening to Bonzilla, or even sludge/stoner metal. This is just way too generic sounding. Now don't get me wrong, Bongzilla have put out some really great stuff, the album "Amerijuanican" probably being the best so far. But man, this one is just so typical and forgettable that it's not even worth listening to.
Easily the main problem with this is that none of the guitar riffing is really that great. It just sounds like its been done a million times before, and is therefore pretty much pointless to listen to. And to me, it's also pretty hard to distinguish between the songs. They all sound the same, aside from the dumb samples at the beginning of the songs. That's another thing that I hate too. The samples are just ****ing stupid to me. I don't smoke, and I don't have any problems with it either, but when it gets to the point where weed is all that is being talked about, it's pretty ****ing annoying. Same can be said for the lyrics. Bongzilla are extremely repetitive in that department. At least bands like Sleep have stuff like fantasy and such. All Bongzilla has are a bunch of songs talking about legalizing reefer. So it makes sense that the only thing that's somewhat decent on here is the instrumental.
Along with the guitar playing, everything else is really pedestrian too. The bass isn't very interesting to me, the drums are alright but nothing amazing, and the vocals are standard harsh vocals. Nothing is either here nor there. It's pretty strange too, because the instruments have usually been pretty good on all other releases. And it's pretty unfortunate that this album can't hold my ****ing attention at all. Bongzilla can't make me give a **** about anything on here.
So if you want a better introduction to Bongzilla or stoner metal, check out the previously mentioned "Amerijuanican". It's way better than this. They get their shit together on that one, and plus they drop the samples so it's a lot more tolerable on repeated listens. Avoid this one though. "Gateway" is just the opposite of that. Thumbs down, skip.
originally written by me on Metal-Archives.
Easily the main problem with this is that none of the guitar riffing is really that great. It just sounds like its been done a million times before, and is therefore pretty much pointless to listen to. And to me, it's also pretty hard to distinguish between the songs. They all sound the same, aside from the dumb samples at the beginning of the songs. That's another thing that I hate too. The samples are just ****ing stupid to me. I don't smoke, and I don't have any problems with it either, but when it gets to the point where weed is all that is being talked about, it's pretty ****ing annoying. Same can be said for the lyrics. Bongzilla are extremely repetitive in that department. At least bands like Sleep have stuff like fantasy and such. All Bongzilla has are a bunch of songs talking about legalizing reefer. So it makes sense that the only thing that's somewhat decent on here is the instrumental.
Along with the guitar playing, everything else is really pedestrian too. The bass isn't very interesting to me, the drums are alright but nothing amazing, and the vocals are standard harsh vocals. Nothing is either here nor there. It's pretty strange too, because the instruments have usually been pretty good on all other releases. And it's pretty unfortunate that this album can't hold my ****ing attention at all. Bongzilla can't make me give a **** about anything on here.
So if you want a better introduction to Bongzilla or stoner metal, check out the previously mentioned "Amerijuanican". It's way better than this. They get their shit together on that one, and plus they drop the samples so it's a lot more tolerable on repeated listens. Avoid this one though. "Gateway" is just the opposite of that. Thumbs down, skip.
originally written by me on Metal-Archives.
