Charger/Birds of Paradise - Split CD
Calculated Risk Products - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Two bands. Two tracks. Twenty minutes of music. This is a limited pressing of a split CD facing off two of Britain's most promising bands - Stoke On Trent based sludge-maniacs Charger, and bizarre melodic/noise rock act The Birds Of Paradise. Now, I own Charger's last record and the The Foul Year Of Our Lord EP, so I pretty much knew what to expect from their half of the disc. The Birds of Paradise, on the other hand, were a totally unknown quantity.
Charger's effort, 'For All Intents And Purposes (You Are All Already Dead)' does pretty much exactly what you expect. Slow, long, drawn-out riffs, developed and repeated while drums clatter and Ives' vocals shriek out over the cacophany. The bass rumbles and growls (although perhaps not quite loud enough), the guitars bludgeon, the vox scrape and the whole thing is like being slowly dragged over broken glass (which, in the world of sludge, is a definite good thing).
Birds of Paradise, then. Wow. How to begin describing them? Imagine some of the more accessible moments from The Dillinger Escape Plan's Miss Machine album. Add lurching, disorienting tempo changes, proggy keyboard/xylophone interludes, and a surfeit of hooks buried within a danceable groove, and stretch it all out for over eight minutes of exhausting but exhilerating noise. That's 'Ornine Utopia Anthem'. Definitely a band I'm going to be watching more closely for in future.
Overall then, if you can get hold of it, this is a split CD well worth your cash. A top notch track from one of England's best sludge bands, and an eye-opening, challenging and original shot across the bows from one it's most promising, upcoming acts.
9/10
Charger Official Website
Birds of Paradise Official Website
Calculated Risk Products Website
Calculated Risk Products - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Two bands. Two tracks. Twenty minutes of music. This is a limited pressing of a split CD facing off two of Britain's most promising bands - Stoke On Trent based sludge-maniacs Charger, and bizarre melodic/noise rock act The Birds Of Paradise. Now, I own Charger's last record and the The Foul Year Of Our Lord EP, so I pretty much knew what to expect from their half of the disc. The Birds of Paradise, on the other hand, were a totally unknown quantity.
Charger's effort, 'For All Intents And Purposes (You Are All Already Dead)' does pretty much exactly what you expect. Slow, long, drawn-out riffs, developed and repeated while drums clatter and Ives' vocals shriek out over the cacophany. The bass rumbles and growls (although perhaps not quite loud enough), the guitars bludgeon, the vox scrape and the whole thing is like being slowly dragged over broken glass (which, in the world of sludge, is a definite good thing).
Birds of Paradise, then. Wow. How to begin describing them? Imagine some of the more accessible moments from The Dillinger Escape Plan's Miss Machine album. Add lurching, disorienting tempo changes, proggy keyboard/xylophone interludes, and a surfeit of hooks buried within a danceable groove, and stretch it all out for over eight minutes of exhausting but exhilerating noise. That's 'Ornine Utopia Anthem'. Definitely a band I'm going to be watching more closely for in future.
Overall then, if you can get hold of it, this is a split CD well worth your cash. A top notch track from one of England's best sludge bands, and an eye-opening, challenging and original shot across the bows from one it's most promising, upcoming acts.
9/10
Charger Official Website
Birds of Paradise Official Website
Calculated Risk Products Website
