Bandcamp Stolen Kidneys
It's a searing hot day here in Antwerp. Everything is bright with sunlight. Birds are either trying
to get laid or building a nest and girls walk around in very short skirts. Children are playing in
the playground and adults are sitting on a bench, drinking beer, disguised as iced tea. So yes, today is a perfect day to crawl inside, close the curtains and blast some crushing sludge metal through the speakers and drink some iced tea, disguised as beer.
Arson Under The Sea and Stolen Kidneys are two Finnish bands, combining sludge, doom and hardcore. Both bands have a strong DIY-attitude. They released this 12" without a label because they could. The similar style of the bands make the album sound like a full album in stead of a split, which is a pretty interesting observation. Not that the bands sound exactly the same but they do have the same elements and influences. However, don't think this split is boring, there's a lot of stuff going on.
Arson Under Sea The delivered four tracks, all pretty slow but massive steamrollers with fuzzy
guitars, pounding drums and some brutal vocals. However, they don't shun the blastbeats and the high speed guitars. These make a song like 'Chains Of Oblivion' nudge towards black metal, featuring the same bleak and apocalyptic atmosphere. The vintage DIY sound quality helps a lot with that overall feel of total annihilation. Favorite track: 'The Observing Self', a highly destructive song.
The three songs Stolen Kidneys delivered are in no way less scathing. On average the songs are a bit longer and they have a stronger punk-sound but the sound quality and the overall intensity are quite similar. Another difference might be the fact that Stolen Kidney incorporates a bit more instrumental noise-rock passages. In fact, noise-rock might be a better term for this band than sludge. However, any way you name it, this is still some powerful, almost savage music. Favorite track: 'Dethrone the Fear'.
To conclude, this is an interesting 12" (or digital download) for everyone who's into sludge, noise-rock, doom, hardcore and other aggressive genres. Both bands prove their worth on this split by playing some intense music and leaving an impressive amount of wreckage behind them when they're done. Most of all, of course, this is something for the live stages and I would highly recommend checking them out. Maybe you won't survive but at least you've been crushed by some very decent skilled bands...
Serge