Saturday 25 November 2017

Slowjoint/GAIA - Split Album (Album Review)


Release date: November 01st 2017. Label: Various. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Slowjoint/GAIA - Tracklisting

1.Slowjoint - Beverage Joe 06:52
2.Slowjoint - Low and Slow 04:40
3.Slowjoint - Politicks 09:33
4.Gaia - Wound Gratuity 10:24
5.Gaia - There's Nothing Left 10:03

Review

Two of Denmark's heaviest Doom and Stoner Metal acts have came together to release a blistering split LP running for over 40 minutes of heavy riffs. In one corner you have Doom/Sludge/Stoner/Weed Specialists – SLOWJOINT- And in the other corner you have Cosmic Doom Overlords – GAIA. Two bands with a very different sound and that's a good thing. As you're treated to some very cool riffs from both bands.

Slowjoint's side of the album is like their previous releases. Influenced by bands such as Weedeater. Slowjoint play down-tuned sludgy Doom/Stoner sounds with a distinctive weedian after thought. The music is very punk driven and chaotic at times with the band creating some of their best work in years. Beverage Joe and Politicks are the highlights here for Slowjoint. It's good to see the band including a more NOLA driven sound and some weird psychedelic noisy riffs on Politicks. The band have laid off their wisecracking humour for this release which was evident on their 2014 debut album – Up Shit Creek.

GAIA's side of the album is two epic slices of Cosmic Doom riffs with both tracks running past the 10 minute mark. Wound Gratuity and There's Nothing Left veers into psychedelic spaced out doom territory. There's nothing flashy about GAIA's sound and that's what I admire about their sound most. The music sounds very real and quite menacing at times. The music maybe too low at times but the vocals allows GAIA to drift further into the cosmos. The instrumental work is impressive as they play at their own pace before exploding into a loud volume of noise.

The production on both sides of the album is superb and this leaves you with a feeling of wanting more music from both bands. Always a good sign in my humble opinion. This is definitely one of the best split-albums I've heard this year. You'll be a fool to pass this by. Especially when it's available on BandCamp Buy Now Download and an awesome sounding vinyl.

All in all this is a must have record if you're a fan of both bands.

Words by Steve Howe

Slowjoint Links

Facebook | BandCamp

GAIA Links

Facebook | BandCamp