Saturday 29 October 2016

Ten Ton Slug - Brutal Gluttonous Beast (EP Review)


Release date: October 25th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Brutal Gluttonous Beast – Tracklisting

1.Trollhunter 07:51
2.Bloodburns 06:50
3.Subterranean 04:53
4.Unit 07:02

Ten Ton Slug - Band Members:

Micheal Sullivan,
Sean Sullivan,
Eoghan Wynne,
Adomas Trakumas,
Ronan O 'hArrachtain

Review:

Ten Ton Slug are a band influenced by bands such as Pantera, Down, Crowbar and the other legendary bands from the NOLA scene. What makes these guys standout from the crowd is their ability to inject a modern Groove Metal sound into their music. It gives Ten Ton Slug an uncompromising feel and approach to their music.

Brutal Gluttonous Beast is a deliriously fucked-up and brutal offering. The EP runs for a brisk 27 minutes and you're treated to 4 tracks that allows you to immerse yourself with Ten Ton Slug's world. Opening track – Trollhunter has a deafening Pantera vibe running throughout. The riffs are played at a fast pace with shades of NOLA sounds adding real menace to the EP's atmosphere. It's very raw sounding at times though the band do play quite a few progressive riffs on the EP with superb vocals to match.

Ten Ton Slug have more a classic style of Sludge/Doom Metal around them and it's very cool to hear. The vocals stay firmly within the realm of death based growls. Though they're very easy to understand which is always a good thing.

Second track – Bloodburns – carries on the same ideas on the opening track as the band add a few extra beatdowns to the mix. The song has a stop-start approach with the riffs. It can be slightly frustrating at first but the band soon return to winning ways when the heavy pounding riffs return. The drumming on this song is a major highlight of the EP. Precise and deadly. With the vocals and riffs not too far behind.

Third track – Subterranean – is the shortest offering on the EP, running under 5 minutes. The song is perhaps Ten Ton Slug's more direct Groove/Sludge Metal offering with a hint of Doom Metal lurking in the background.

The fourth and final track – Unit – is the standout track here. (I will say Trollhunter was my fave track originally but after interviewing lead guitarist Sean recently, he told me why Unit is his favourite track and I have to agree with Sean). This song has a more modern feel compared to the other tracks and this is where Ten Ton Slug really excel at. By creating a more distinct Sludge/Doom Metal sound. It has it's fair share of epic riffs to impress you with. The vocals are superb yet again with some killer lyrics that will have you nodding furiously in agreement.

It's a shame the band didn't include an extra song on the EP as it would have been great just to hear one final song. Apart from that minor complaint, Ten Ton Slug have delivered a hard-hitting and superb debut EP. With the band currently recording their debut album we haven't heard the last of Ten Ton Slug. Check these guys out now. You won't regret it!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp