Release
date: September 15th
2017.
Label: Doom Stew Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Lord
Of Pain – Tracklisting
1.Lord of Pain 05:44
2.Logrus 09:57
3.Mercer 07:13
Band
Members
Chris Gray - Guitar,
Vocals
Ken Neff - Bass
Devin Nowlin - Lead
Drums
Pete Schaller -
Rhythm Drums
Review
Lord Of Pain is the debut EP from
Sludge/Stoner Metallers - Menin. It's a brutally sounding and
adventurous release with the band showing their love and appreciation
for High On Fire and Sleep. The vocals remain harsh but easily
understandable with the music drifting from distorted sludge sounds
to the more familiar sounding stoner metal riffs. When the vocals
become more chant based, the EP turns into a harsher psychedelic
sound.
Fans of Zoroaster will enjoy the
opening track - Lord Of Pain - as the droned out noises interact
violently with the sludge/stoner vibes being played around you. It
may sound like a simple track to begin with but I can assure you that
Menin have created many different levels of sludgy psychedelic
grooves.
Second track - Logrus - is the
entire centrepiece of the EP with the song running almost for ten
minutes. Menin play an almost tribal drone style riff with pounding
drums playing the same sounds for the first few minutes or so.
Guitars are added with the drone/doom atmospherics slowly changing
course. The repetitive drone/doom rhythms may put some people but I
recommend you stick with this song as Menin bring in some much needed
SLEEP style sonic riffery.
The lyrics have a deep sci-fi/doom
and gloom element to them. The song is deliberately slow-paced and
that allows Menin to experiment with their sound. Truth be told, this
song feels about two or three different songs put together. As the
song moves from different genres and moods on multiple occasions.
This makes Logrus a challenging song to listen to but it still ranks
as the standout track on the EP.
The final track - Mercer - opens
with semi-acoustic doom based guitars creating slow and subtle
rhythms before the heavier sludge/doom/stoner metal riffs appear and
allow the song to fully spring into life. The song is purely
instrumental with Menin experimenting with their bass heavy sound at
different parts of the EP.
There are a few moments on the EP
where I wished the band moved their music up a gear and play some
faster riffs. Apart from that minor complaint, Lord Of Pain is a
well-produced and frankly unrelentless slice of modern
Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal that will have you coming back for more.
Hopefully a full length album is in the works. As this EP is crying
out for another song for Menin to slay people with.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve
Howe
Thanks to MENIN for the
promo. Lord Of Pain will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from
September 15th 2017.
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