Friday 11 November 2016

Megatherium - Superbeast (Album Review)


Release date: November 04th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

SUPERBEAST – Tracklisting

1.Prayer For The Ox 01:17
2.Refuse To Shine 05:06
3.Fly High 05:18
4.Twiceman 13:23
5.Ghost Of The Ocean 04:45
6.Cleveland (Is Far From Here) 03:39
7.The Wolf And The Deer 03:11
8.Grey Line 09:14
9.Betrayers Everywhere 06:17
10.Slow Down 04:35
11.Retrosky 08:02

Band Members:

Manuele - vocals, fx
Davide - guitar
Fabio - bass, vocals
Stefano - drums

Review:

Prepare for the new album by Megatherium. Superbeast is perhaps one of the most apt names for an album this year as this album contains an avalanche of heavy noises and far-out riffs. From the spaced out psych sounds of opening track – Prayer For The Ox, you’re instantly drawn into Megatherium’s world. The album lasts for an epic sixty minutes or so.

Second track – Refuse To Shine – shows you the Megatherium as their music takes a more distorted and heavier turn. The vocals are clean based but firmly rooted in doom/gloom atmospherics with the bass-pounding riffs creating an exciting and ferocious sound. The tone of the album is built upon sound experimentation as the band navigates themselves through a wide range of different styles and noises.

Third track – Fly High – sees the band opt for a more lo-fi grungier sound with the vocals reminding me of the vocals of the legendary era. The lyrics have an overall bleak context to them and it only enhances the overall feel and attitude of the entire album.

Fourth track – Twiceman – is the standout song on the album. Almost fourteen minutes of heavy progressive doomier sounds matched against a vast psychedelic grungier backdrop. It’s a deliberately slow paced song that allows you to immerse yourself not only with the song but with the overall gloomy vibe of the entire album. The instrumental work is what holds your attention as the band creates different layers of sound.

The album contains seven more psychedelic offerings but the four tracks give you a good impression on what to expect for the remainder of the album. Top-notch heavy psych grooves that you would expect to hear from the Italian Doom/Stoner Metal scene.

Other standout tracks to check out are: Ghost Of The Ocean, The Wolf And The Deer, Slow Down and the majestic closing track – Retrosky. Superbeast has a vast different styles of music contained throughout the whole album. Fans of Ufomammut, Conan, Slomatics and even A Perfect Circle will find much to enjoy on Superbeast.

Superbeast has become one of my favourite debut albums I’ve listened to this year. It’s a wonderful sounding and thrilling album that will hopefully reward Megatherium with a much bigger fan base. A simply stunning album.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp