This is the debut full-length I from sludge-heavy doomsters Olde. As you can see, the art in question features a naked woman with extremely sharp teeth (is she a vampire? an early-stage-transformation werewolf?) holding a rough spear and riding a grizzly bear. While it’s no wang-i-corn, there’s no doubt that this cover is majestic.
So, Olde is a doom/stoner metal band, but they've taken a new approach to the genre. As we move on with the review, we'll get into what they are and what they are not. Even though this is their debut record, the musicians themselves have been at this for a very long time. Even the story of their genesis is interesting.
Guitarist, Greg Dawson chose the members and assembled them one by one without their knowing who else was in the band. Then they met on a driveway. The music sounds like you'd expect doom or stoner metal to sound like. It's thick. It's heavy. It borrows heavily from places like Black Sabbath, Clutch, and even High On Fire. The difference here is this is what Clutch would sound like if I really enjoyed their music...
The song structures of I are familiar in all the right ways, from the well-worn grooves of “Flies” to the surging energy of “Rise Before the Fall,” which gesture toward Crowbar, Pantera, and Down through their infectious and satisfying writing. Featuring members of Sons of Otis, Jaww, and Moneen, Olde has a strong sense of history and knows how to write music that hooks like a harpoon. It’s the extraordinary tones and textures of I, however, that set it apart—and make it an exceptionally strong piece of doom.
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