Amerijuanican

Bongzilla return with a release not too far removed from their last full-length, Gateway (except those opening samples are absent), but hey, nothing wrong with that. People need to stop bitching when bands decide to demonstrate consistency by releasing killer but similar albums throughout the course of their career. Unless the band's formula sucks, there's no reason for dissatisfaction, and of course Bongzilla is on top of their fucking game here. Distorted, fuzzy and sludgy doom metal is the order of the day and this album just can't dissapoint.

Highlights include the title-track with its plodding opening riff that soon develops into a heavy-as-fuck monstrosity, still managing to be catchy though. "Stonesphere" is a twelve-minute stoner metal instrumental that has a pretty tripped-out middle section coupled with the band's signature catchy but heavy riffing. Also, the closing track, the Muddy Waters cover, deserves special mention because the band really managed to make the song their own. Everything else here is good enough; no filler on this album.

The guitars, as previously mentioned, mostly adhere to catchy, Sabbath-influenced melodies, but occasionally slow down for some fucking heavy dirge-like moments very much in the vain of Electric Wizard. Check out "Cutdown" for the best example of that. The drumming is also well-done. Some slow but well-performed fills and interesting beats are utilized to keep things interesting, and they do just that. And the vocals. Well, the vocals are mostly hoarse growls, but I personally believe they work remarkably well with this kind of music. They're not pretty, but if you're looking for pretty music, you're probably barking up the wrong tree with doom metal - and metal, in general - to begin with. Sludge metal is meant to be oppresively heavy. This obviously doesn't dissapoint. One of the best stoner/doom releases of 2005; get ahold of it.