Release Date: October 29th 2021. Record Label: Trepanation Recordings. Format: CD/DD/Cassette
A Breath Of Flesh Air - Tracklisting
1.Molar Crown 05:49
2.Ka-tet 03:54 video
3.Cinderstella 03:02
4.Sorrow's Bane 02:28
5.Toadfish 03:10
6.Fatberg 10:07
7.Sludge Guzzler 02:11
Review
UK Doom/Stoner/Sludge Thrashers CALLUS are back with their 2nd album A Breath Of Flesh Air with a brutally entertaining slice of modern Heavy Metal spiked with violent attitude to match. An interesting combination of Doom, Sludge and Stoner elements but all wrapped in a Thrash Metal environment. This reminds me of Metallica playing Stoner Metal but with harsh vocals.
The album runs for 30 minutes and the songs have a slight Punk vibe especially the shorter songs such as Ka-tet, Cinderstella, Sorrow’s Bane and Sludge Guzzler but I’m getting away ahead of myself with the album opening up with the excellent almost six minute track Molar Crown. This is a great song to start the album with as CALLUS bring a heavy onslaught of lean, mean and very slick modern vibe with the Thrash Metal sound allowing CALLUS to bring a more extreme sound to the usual Doom/Stoner Metal sound.
There is a high amount of technical ability to CALLUS music especially when they switch genres round at the drop of a hat and I loved the slightly warped attitude on Ka-tet. The guitar solos are plentiful on this record and CALLUS don’t skimp on that part of the album. The record has a wonderful free-flowing attitude where the songs all superbly lead into each other.
Add the excellent production values from CONAN legend and all round Production Genius that is Chris Fielding then you know the record sounds awesome from start to finish. The music is crisp with the whole sound of the album being wonderfully modern.
The songwriting is another impressive feat from CALLUS where it holds your attention especially on the later stages of the album.
A Breath Of Flesh Air is exactly that. It’s good to hear a band that gets back to basics and leaves the progressive theatrics behind and just aim for “PURE FUCKING METAL” even with this album containing the 10 minute epic Fatberg which is no doubt the standout song on the album.
Yeah, I absolutely adore this record. The album has the right mix of throwback Heavy Metal vibes with the modern Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal grooves leaving you wanting more. Shame it only lasts 30 minutes as I wanted to experience more of what CALLUS had to day. Maybe on future releases they could aim for something longer. Anyway, this is a must have record that will keep fans across the whole Hard Rock/Heavy Metal community entertained for many months to come.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to CALLUS for the promo.
A Breath Of Flesh Air is available to buy now on CD/DD/Cassette Tape via Trepanation Recordings.
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