Monday 16 April 2018

St Fenton The Tainted - Jaw Of The Tyrant Hills (Album Review)


Release date: April 06th 2018. Label: Hibernacula Records. Format: DD

Jaw Of The Tyrant Hills – Tracklisting

1You stepped on my grave 02:05
2.Kill what you love 05:39
3.God sent rain (You sent blood and piss) 03:58
4.Ghost of the stillborn summer 04:23
5.Do your devils know my name 05:01
6.Death wanders home 07:57

Review

St Fenton The Tainted is a Doom/Sludge Metal band who deal in heavy and outbursts violent sounds throughout their debut album - Jaw Of The Tyrant Hills. Opting for a Blackened Sludge Metal approach to their music. St Fenton The Tainted's sound can be quite abrasive and has a hardcore punk feel. The production is not the best sounding I've heard this year but at least the music is of a high standard. Opening track - Insert Name Later - is a sludgy/doom based snarling hardcore punk offering. With St Fenton The Tainted playing a heavy violent style of your standard Doom/Sludge Metal riffs.

A very good track to open the album with that soon drifts violently into the second track -'Kill What You Love - is a song containing elements of Doom Metal, Thrash, Sludge and Hardcore Punk noises. Some parts work really well and others take time to fully take effect. The whole mood of the album is bleak and the lyrics hold a lingering sombre feel. The vocals are what you would expect from an album such as this. Nothing too flashy or overbearing. Just an honest sounding style of Doom/Sludge Metal vocals delivered with true passion. The instrumental work is very frantic but at least St Fenton The Tainted plays a real demented purpose and drive.

Third track - God sent rain (You sent blood and piss) - carries on the violent nihilistic sound with the heavy distorted guitars adding a real metallic groove into the overall tone of the entire album. This is one of the standout songs of the album as St Fenton The Tainted thrives on the gloomy post-thrash/doom/sludge vibes that starts to take a commanding presence. Maybe some people will be put off by the lo-fi production and that's understandable. It took me a few attempts to listen to the album and become more familiar with St Fenton The Tainted's brutal heavy world.

The other songs on the album - Ghost of the stillborn summer, Do your devils know my name and Death Wanders Home - follow on the same twisted path with St Fenton The Tainted becoming more emotionally cold and distant as a result. St Fenton The Tainted are superb musicians and this album proves they know their way around a loud, violent and mean riff. St Fenton The Tainted do feel they were influenced and inspired by Motorhead in certain places on the album.

Especially on the fourth song – Ghost of the stillborn summer. The whole structure feels like a classic Motorhead song but given a despairing Doom/Sludge Metal makeover. This song is breathtakingly loud and highly volatile with the thumping rhythm section doing the heavy lifting that allows St Fenton The Tainted to leave the listener feeling like an emotional and shivering wreck.

Despite the rough production on Jaw Of The Tyrant Hills, St Fenton The Tainted have created an uncompromising slice of Blackened Sludge/Doom Metal. I admire for St Fenton The Tainted for injecting a more psychedelic sound into the second half of the album. The final song – Death Wanders Home - is another highlight with St Fenton The Tainted treating the listener to brutal despairing doom/sludge sounds. Though the final few minutes could have easily been left off. Just static noise that doesn't go anywhere.

My final thoughts on Jaws Of The Tyrant Hills is that's a superbly entertaining record that has a lot of cool things to offer especially if you're a true fan of the more extreme side of Doom/Sludge Metal.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Lisa at Hold Tight! PR for the promo. Jaws Of The Tyrant Hills is available to buy now.

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