At this point, I’m sure BP needs no introduction. Riding on the crest of a growing catalog of releases, rabidly positive word of mouth and a big league headlining tour waiting in the wings, the doomed trio of Andy, Gein and Clay has carved a righteous swath through the gullet of our beloved, sacred cow of a genre. The two tracks on this wax splitter see a classy act further refining their strengths and scoffing at the thought of weaknesses! “Illumination” is without a doubt the best track I’ve heard from the band to date.
With 15 leisurely minutes within its grasp, “Illumination” takes a central set of ideas (namely a steady rhythmic simmer and a repetitive, purely classic riff) and runs for the border. Really, the band never strays far from the beauty of repetition and Andy’s trademark, ethereal singing in the track’s first half. A focal riff creates the foundation and everything else is sucked into it. Galaxies collapse, monuments are erected and once the band heads into a brief moment of light speed overdrive after the 6-minute mark, the listener is jettisoned into a psychedelic rift that’s rife with serene glimpses of the other side. Clean guitar texturing and 70s psych soloing matches wits with relaxed rhythms and a floating organ line, creating a second half that’s nearly the exact opposite of the first. The end result is a guaranteed showstopper that hones the band’s classic doom approach and extenuates the psychedelic exploration they’ve toyed with on previous outings.
BP’s second track on the split, “Warswine” is a bit more straightforward, but no less engaging. Starting out with ominous, melodic riffs and a persistent beat, it isn’t surprising when BP go into full High on Fire mode with a bulldozing backbeat leading the charge, alongside skin slicing metallic riffs and girth-y basslines. Andy’s vocals bellow out in a deafening roar, as the band progresses their galloping assault through villages of tuneful guitar leads, all the way to the ramparts of blazing metal solos. To my complete amazement they shift gears for the final push, piling on a thick bluesy Sabbath smoke to the already smoldering flames of everything quelled in the path of the rollicking, metal-minded steamroller that is “Warswine”.
Without a single doubt in my mind, these two compositions cement BP as master craftsmen in the doom genre. They’ve been blasting out nothing but keepers from day one, and they seem to grow tenfold with each new release. I’m expecting nothing less than the audio equivalent of mortars raining down on my household with their next full-length outing. Bring it on boys!
Oh, but we’re not done yet. Not by a long shot, as we’ve got two whoppers from the gruesome twosome of Mike and Brandon (Old One) on side B. From the haunting organ drone that opens “Over the Hill,” the pulverizing Electric Wizard groove by way of Godheadsilo dissonance of Old One never lets up for a second of the track’s 6-minute, high-octane pummel. It’s a more up-tempo number for the band, in the tradition of the opening minutes of “Doomed” on their S/T debut. There’s a bit of the crushing, hand of doom slowdown showdown that’s the band’s ace in the hole (prominently featured in the track’s later portion), but mostly this behemoth gnashes its teeth on a particularly rousing Brandon Howard bluesy, busy bass groove, with Mike Cooper’s energetic fill/roll work and creep factor vocals filling in everything else.
A close friend pointed out to me the resemblance of Cooper’s desolate vocal lines to one Scott Reagers of a band whose name I don’t have to mention. You know what the funny thing is? The more I think about it, the more I can see it. I think Cooper’s a little more on the aggressive side, but there’s a similar, disassociation flowing through the stalk n’ slash vocal lines of Old One as there is with Reagers’ work with premium Vitus.
Not to mention that Cooper also possesses one of the most gripping “Yeahs,” you’ll hear in the modern metal underground. Don’t chuckle either…the lost art of a hearty “yeah,” is still as powerful as it ever was, and Mike knows this, giving superhuman strength to this single word with his larynx expulsions in several Old One tracks. "Over the Hill" is no exception to that rule. Yeah!
Don’t think for a minute that the band’s hypnotic, swirling reverse-time dirges were abandoned on this split either. “Hexed (an older composition, dating back to when the band members were a meager 16 years of age)” shows the band’s primary persona of molasses thick, syrupy anti-matter groove is still very much the main course. Again the skin crawling organ hymnal playing in the background gives Old One a 50’s horror film score atmosphere, while the heavy duty rhythm work of Howard and Cooper, drives a nuclear bomb-loaded slowcore truck into a dynamite factory. The resulting fireworks aren’t pretty, as sparks rain down and chunks of charred flesh litter the streets, but the hypnotizing display of vibrant blood sprays and towering flames suck you in nonetheless.
EW fans that gave up on the band with We Live are going to love this track, as well as worshippers of Warhorse and Godheadsilo. Can’t wait for the band’s second LP, which will hopefully be making an appearance around Halloween this year. As with BP, if this material is any indication of what’s on the horizon for Old One, all of us extreme doom lovers are in for a treat of champions.
Honestly, I’m not going to end this review with a summation or a bunch of assorted blowhard crap, but instead a question (other than mentioning Mike Finucane’s fine cover drawing, he the man that did the art for the BP S/T masterpiece). Do you like doom-metal? If you answered yes, quit listening to me yap and buy this the day it hits the streets. Not sure on the date, but it's soon! The end!
