Joe Preston

The fact that Joe was only a member for a very short time, and he appears on the solo cd series is kind of funny. Most casual Melvins fans will glance at this release and dismiss it, but within the grooves of this EP contains some of the heaviest drone metal since the band Earth (see track 3, Hands First Flower which takes up 23 of the EP's 27 total minutes) which doesn't seem surprising since Preston was in one of the earliest formations of Earth.

Starting the disc out is a track called 'The Eagle Has Landed' and is a bizarre sample of a scratchy, jazz record playing while a baby is crying in the background. This type of thing became a staple for the future Thrones records that use various strange samples from movies and other unknown sources. A good introduction to Preston's style.

The next track starts and sounds instantly familiar as Preston's own. 'Bricklebrit' lasts only 3 minutes, but sounds like it could be taken from the first Thrones demo tape and is the most easily accessible track on this record. It is the classic Thrones sound with heavily sludged bass plays over programmed drums.

My personal favorite, the previously mentioned 'Hands First Flower', is a Doom Metal masterpiece that fans of Earth or Sunn O))) will shit their pants over. Turn it up loud and massage your inner demons.

This album is nowhere near a Melvins album, and will probably be disliked by many Melvins casual fans, but if you liked the Melvins album 'Lysol' (also with Joe Preston) this record is one step beyond into the realm of totally bizarre drone metal. A great EP that I wish would have been an LP.