Commoner: A Commoner’s Quest – Album Overview

Commoner – A Commoner’s Quest

(Commoner)

DL

Out Now

The second album from Norwich and London primarily based heavy crust doom retailers combines components of stoner doom steel, the traditional sound of Black Sabbath and the ferocity of punk. Nathan Brown recommends the relentless horror they unleash.

That includes members of Coitus and Left For Useless, I knew Commoner would ship the products and bagged myself a duplicate of their debut album final 12 months, which has obtained loads of performs. I used to be happy to listen to that the band had been again within the studio this 12 months, the outcome being this, their second providing. The Norwich and London quartet describe themselves as “Downtrodden heavy crust doom”. Whereas there are components of crust punk (it’s of their blood) in addition they have an enormous chunk of heavy bands of their DNA whose lineage inevitably leads us again to the primary few Black Sabbath albums. I can hear some similarities with downtuned stoner doom steel within the relentless repetitive riffs however these soiled punks are heavier and gnarlier than the likes of Electrical Wizard.

The scene is ready with Eldervoid, practically 3 minutes of roaring, haunting wooshing results and sinister synthesizer.

Micro organism kicks off with a wah-wah pushed guitar line earlier than the entire heavy band comes crashing in. The vocals are growling and subterranean sounding. Half method into this 8 minute groove the tempo picks proper up with thrash steel undertones, harking back to punk-metal thrashers Sacrilege,  earlier than slowing down once more. The track nears it’s conclusion with a chorus of “Micro organism” which develops into “WE ARE micro organism”. A touch upon the artistic but harmful nature of humankind maybe? Or only a scientific incontrovertible fact that just about all life is made up of micro organism. Like micro organism floating away on the air, the track drifts off with reverb laden acoustic to fade. I’m minded of a few of Coitus’s crushing tunes in locations, which is not any shock. Micro organism? This band are so sludgey at occasions that they’re primordial slime.

Extra upbeat than Micro organism however no much less heavy, and with the gruff vocals extra outstanding, Queens of Slaughter is a stable tank of a tune that propels like a relentless blitzkrieg. It has the heaviness and motoring drive of the perfect of d-beat bands. The track tells of a murderous fantasy biker gang – a phalanx of witches on their iron horses. The clue was there proper firstly with the clanking beast of an engine turning over. For me, the track conjures up a visit by means of a fantasy world of chaos and dysfunction the place Mad Max meets Michael Moorcock and the pages of 2000AD. Dropping a reference to “Cursed Earth” into the track will probably attraction to followers of Choose Dredd. I hold returning to Queens of Slaughter as my favorite track on the album.

Hearken to Queens of Slaughter

The reverb laden acoustic guitar instrumental Tamesis Naiad is ushered in by sounds of water and nature and gives some respite from the heaviness. It’s a trick which Sabbath amongst others used to supply depth and texture to an album that additionally has the facility to make the next track sound heavier in contrast.

Cthulhunaut begins with the sound of Lovecraft’s beast rising from the deep and is a beast in its personal proper, clocking in at over 10 minutes. Creating a reputation out of Cthulhu and Sabbath’s Supernaut tells you an terrible lot about the place Commoner are coming from. The track is predicated round an extended riff with pounding drums and bass which at occasions emulates the rhythmic strategy that Killing Joke made their inventory in commerce. One other tortured vocal assault maintains the aesthetic. There’s a cheeky solo with loads of wah backed by a heavy palm muted stripped again model of the primary riff earlier than the track switches to a different riff and an extended hovering solo that may attraction to followers of Metallica’s Journey The Lightning interval.

Hyrndu Draugabornin is, like Tamesis Naiad, a extra subdued, mellow acoustic guitar piece, the laughing firstly and finish giving it an Elvish sound. Once more, the distinction is a good gadget to interrupt up proceedings however worthy of word in its personal proper.

The title track, A Commoner’s Quest, finishes off the album. Once more crushing crunching guitars and bass change with hovering solos primarily based round an extended melodic head-nodder of a riff that seemingly spirals endlessly.

Whereas solely 7 songs, A Commoner’s Quest clocks in at 41 minutes. It takes you on a journey from crushing heaviness by means of mellow acoustic snatches to move nodding, anthemic guitar riffs. I’ve discovered far too many many sludge or stoner bands plain boring as a result of they’re simply sluggish and that’s about all they’ve to supply. Commoner hold issues attention-grabbing with tons so as to add to the combination. They make each second matter. The heaviness derived from their mixture of contemporary stoner influences with traditional heavy bands like Sabbath and a gnarly punk sneer provides them an edge as sharp as an axe.

Cowl artwork by guitarist and tattooist Mik units this off completely.

Out there from Bandcamp

Discover new of Commoner’s gigs and different antics on Fb

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Phrases by Nathan Brown. You may learn extra from Nathan on his Louder Than Struggle archive over right here.