Fleshpress

I can't believe I'm the first person to review this album. Along with Dopesick and The Aftermath this is probably one of my favorite sludge albums. Unlike later work, we see Fleshpress playing a more traditional sludge sound here; not that it's a bad thing, far from it. Immediately you know what's in store for you when the second riff kicks in on the first track, that immensely powerful bluesy riff would make Tony Iommi cream his pants. Along with awesome riffs, Mikko of Clandestine Flame/ Deathspell Omega completely destroys the kit. I never knew he was such a great and fluid drummer.

This album is slow, slow, slow, and slow, Grief style trudge with plenty of mid-paced sections to keep you out of a coma. For the most part you get epic and bone shattering riffs like the main riff in "...All Things Broken" as well as some more bluesy stuff - see the second riff of track one, "Trust No One - Coming Home"(could pass as an Eyehategod song if Mike Williams were to be singing) as well as "Jumibian Bongoloid" - that they've seem to completely drop on subsequent releases. Now, none of that is a bad thing, for any sludge band to sound like Eyehategod is an extremely high honour.

With more atmospheric and dirge like parts in the two longer tracks "...All Things Broken" and "( )", which are just as good as the straight up sludge parts, there's something for everyone with this release. Flawlessly executed sludge with atmospheric touches. There is absolutely no black metal to be found here. The vocals could be considered black metalish, but plenty of non-bm bands who implement a similar vocal style at times and they've never been labeled as black metal, so don't be mislead.

Superior sludge with a nice atmospheric twist, defiantly a highpoint in the genre.

Buy it.