Release
date: November 03rd 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD
House
Of The Tiger King - Tracklisting
1.Death
Rattles 02:11
2.The
Book Burners 04:37
3.Sir
Impaler 03:45
4.Alchematic
05:21
5.House
Of The Tiger King 04:01
6.This
Trail Got The Best Of Us 03:49
7.At
The Mercy Of Sleep 04:06
8.Hard
As A Coffin Nail 03:36
9.Dawnbreaker
05:02
Members
Kris Allen - Bass/Vocals
Andy Richards - Drums
Review
Leeds
Sludge/Doom Rockers - Nomasta - have been compared to bands such as
Mastodon and High On Fire with the accompanying PR sheet that came
with the album. And truth be told it's a fair description after
listening to their debut album - House Of The Tiger King - multiple
times recently. The album has a heavy hardcore punk vibe with moments
of Thrash Metal, Doom Metal, Psych. Sludge and Stoner Rock that
allows Nomasta to easily force the listener into submission.
The
opening track – Death Rattles - is a post-doom/thrash/sludge metal
onslaught with cool psychedelic sounds starting the song before the
band playing a heavier and sludgier punk driven sound. The vocals
come screaming in and definitely have a hardcore/heavy metal
influence running throughout them. It's quite a short track lasting
over two minutes but Nomasta still manage to create an action packed
song that goes through a lot of different sounds and genres.
The
band then go flying into action with The Book Burners and that's
where the Kvelertak/High On Fire comparisons come into place. As the
band move through a myriad of different sounds that makes the album
sound exciting. Thrashy based Doom/Sludge guitars added with a more
modern Stoner based groove. The vocals take an unexpected turn as
they harness the clean harmonic energy of Mastodon but set against a
much heavier progressive backdrop. This is one of the standout songs
on the album with Nomasta pulling every trick out of the book as they
leave you wanting to listen to this track over and over again.
Third
track – Sir Impaler is what Mastodon/High On Fire would sound like
if they embraced a more hardcore and psychedelic identity to their
music. Though to Nomasta's credit it's the vocals that impress yet
again with the mixture of hardcore growls and progressive clean style
vocals meaning there is more to Nomasta's sound than the pounding
riffs.
Fourth
track - Alchematic - has a more alternative rock/metal feel with the
vocals but it's the riffs that allows this song to be a "true"
rager with equal parts melody and aggression.
Nomasta
carry on creating their dynamic Sludge driven sound with great songs
such as House Of The Tiger King, This Trail Got The Best Of Us, At
The Mercy Of Sleep and Dawnbreaker showing how the band know how to
create a lean, mean and angry sounding riff. Some people may complain
that the band are maybe trying to hard including too many different
genres of music into the sound. That's beside the point as Nomasta
grab your attention from the start and submit you to an intense and
heavy musical workout that takes no prisoners.
The
musicianship shown here is nothing short of brilliant in parts.
Progressive and daring in equal measures with Nomasta sounding like a
heavier and thrashier version of Cave-In at times. Though this is
Nomasta's show and House Of The Tiger King is an album that could see
the band play to bigger crowds and audiences over the next few years.
The
production is superb with the album sounding crisp and fresh from the
start. I haven't seen many reviews of this album yet and that's a
crying shame as this is a brilliantly entertaining and brutally heavy
album that pulverize the listener into submission.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks to Simon at I
Like Press for the promo. House Of The Tiger King is now available to
buy on CD/DD now.
Links:
