Toadliquor- The Hortator's Lament
Southern Lord - SUNN23 - 3rd February 2003
By Aleksandr Revzin
With this bone smashing and ear bleeding CD debut, The Hortators Lament, Toadliquor make a fine addition to the artists on the Southern Lord label. This album brings together several releases found previously only on vinyl; tracks 1-8 are from the bands debut LP, while 9-12 are from EPs. Toadliqour play the harshest sludge doom. They come out of the gates like an insane giant on a rampage, slamming the listener with walls of distortion. The guitars rarely let-up the claustrophobic heaviness, but a few snatches of light are allowed to peek through now and again. High points come when the band nail a solid groove, for example, around the third minute of Gnaw, or in the title track, which reminds one of a demented jazz club in Hell due to the saxophone.
Vocals are of the throat-lacerating variety. Frankly I just let the screams act as another instrument punctuating the rest of the CD. There is some spoken word, buried in the background, such as that of Fratricide. Extra points for doing a version of Also Sprach Zarathustra(you know, from 2001: A Space Odyssey where the ape-men are crowding around the black monolith.)
Any fan of Southern Lords catalog is advised to get this release. For the casual listener, however, there might be problems - the songs can often sound the same, so people who are not fervent fans of this style could be put off. The production values are pretty low as well, which can only be expected. Yet in this reviewers opinion it adds to the charm, as well as the capacity to make your ears bleed.
8/10
Official Southern Lord website
Southern Lord - SUNN23 - 3rd February 2003
By Aleksandr Revzin
With this bone smashing and ear bleeding CD debut, The Hortators Lament, Toadliquor make a fine addition to the artists on the Southern Lord label. This album brings together several releases found previously only on vinyl; tracks 1-8 are from the bands debut LP, while 9-12 are from EPs. Toadliqour play the harshest sludge doom. They come out of the gates like an insane giant on a rampage, slamming the listener with walls of distortion. The guitars rarely let-up the claustrophobic heaviness, but a few snatches of light are allowed to peek through now and again. High points come when the band nail a solid groove, for example, around the third minute of Gnaw, or in the title track, which reminds one of a demented jazz club in Hell due to the saxophone.
Vocals are of the throat-lacerating variety. Frankly I just let the screams act as another instrument punctuating the rest of the CD. There is some spoken word, buried in the background, such as that of Fratricide. Extra points for doing a version of Also Sprach Zarathustra(you know, from 2001: A Space Odyssey where the ape-men are crowding around the black monolith.)
Any fan of Southern Lords catalog is advised to get this release. For the casual listener, however, there might be problems - the songs can often sound the same, so people who are not fervent fans of this style could be put off. The production values are pretty low as well, which can only be expected. Yet in this reviewers opinion it adds to the charm, as well as the capacity to make your ears bleed.
8/10
Official Southern Lord website
