Debris Inc.

Saint Vitus may be rightfully hailed as doom metal pioneers, but their punk roots should never be denied. Dave Chandler’s simplistic riffing style has more in common with Black Flag’s power chord bashing than anything Iommi ever wrote and the band always had a more streetwise attitude compared to their contemporaries in Trouble or Pentagram. What was once subtext would become text with Debris Inc., a project that Chandler formed with Trouble bassist Rob Holzer between Saint Vitus’s sporadic periods of activity in the early 2000s.

There are some inevitable similarities between Debris Inc. and Saint Vitus, but there’s also enough going on to mark the two projects as separate entities. Chandler himself is in pretty top form as his trademark mix of blunt riffs and wah-heavy solos works well with the adjusted speeds and his voice has a nasty snarl that perfectly suits the sardonic attitude. Holzer’s bass plays a beefy foundational role much as Mark Adams had done with Vitus and the numerous drummers that contributed to the project encourage the overall spontaneous vibe.

With that in mind, there are times where the songwriting may be a little too spontaneous for its own good. An experimental vibe is to be expected with an album like this, but a few tracks miss the mark as the vocals on “Nausea” come off obnoxious and “Junkbak” goes for a rather aimless six minutes. The minute-long outburst songs and the cover of Fear’s “I Love Living In The City” also feel slightly superfluous, but they’re also fun (and short) enough for me to not mind them being around.

Fortunately there are just as many tracks that come out successful. Predictably enough, the slowest songs are some of the best as “The Old Man and His Bong” features the most Vitus-like riff set while “Pain” puts in as much misanthropy and menace as possible. Some of the straight punk songs also manage to be pretty fun with “Fuckin’ Mess” and “The Nightmare” making for particularly catchy anthems.

Overall, Debris Inc.’s sole album has its share of rough patches but it’s ultimately a fun experiment. The fusion of punk and doom is seamless, and you can tell the musicians put a lot of energy into crafting it, even if the songwriting can be spotty. I think the album would be more effective if it was about ten minutes shorter, but this is a style that I’d like to see more of in general. This’ll be a shoo-in for Vitus diehards but anybody curious to hear a doomed-out answer to Black Flag, S.O.D. or The Mentors may also get something out of it.

Highlights:
“Fuckin’ Mess”
“Full of Shit (F.O.S.)”
“The Old Man and His Bong”
“The Nightmare”
“Pain”