Release Date: February 25th 2022. Record Label: Church Road Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Matriarch - Tracklisting
Matriarch
To The Sky
The Trees, The Trees, The Trees
Halcyon Gilt
Into The Sea
Shame
Grave
Members
Tom Dimmock - Guitars
Tyler Hodges - Vocals, Drums
Review
To say i’ve been looking forward to Tuskar’s debut album Matriarch is a bit of an understatement. I’ve been a fan of the band ever since their debut EP released back in 2017 and subsequent releases. I’ve featured them on the blog many times over the years and I have to say their debut album is a colossal release that sees Tuskar meet their huge potential but one that could see these guys reach the elite of the UK Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene.
Matriarch is an album built on aggressive Sludge, Doom and Stoner Metal sounds whilst bringing a Post-Rock, Punk Rock and Psychedelic edge to proceedings. Can you remember when Mastodon and Baroness released Heavy Progressive Sludge Metal albums before settling for their modern day Hard Rock sound, well Tuskar are bringing that style of Sludge/Stoner Metal to the masses whilst still forging a heavy and powerful identity of their own.
Opening song is the stunning title track Matriarch which runs almost twelve minutes in length with Tuskar playing a style of heavy progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal that has elements of Drone throughout. The music veers slow-paced atmospherics to faster hardcore based aggression with the vocals being multi-layered. The instrumental work is powerful and quite subtle which makes for a more fearful experience. For a two-piece band, TUSKAR feel they have more members..
Second song To The Sky is classic sounding Prog Sludge/Stoner Metal with the band taking that classic Mastodon style once again but giving it more ethereal feeling with trippy vocals and lyrics to match. The Stoner influence is very strong with this song but Tuskar still doing their own thing with a mixture of harsh and clean vocals giving the band a more threatening position. The music can be quite deafening in places but there are a few cool Psychedelic touches that bring the volume down to more manageable levels of Post-Doom or Post-Stoner bliss. Though, the cool THRASH based beats and breakdowns will give listeners more to chew on.
The opening two songs allows Tuskar to show listeners what Matriarch is all about but still having the creative opportunity to try their hands at different things such as the wonderfully psychedelic third song The Trees, The Trees, The Trees which I would expect from Instrumental bands such as Yawning Man or Earthless.
Maybe I’ve name checked too many bands in this review but it’s only to show what style of music that is held on the record.
Other standout songs include: Halcyon Gilt, Into The Sea and Shame. With Tuskar showing a wealth of creativity and different levels of Psychedelic and Progressive based heaviness. I also admire the raw production parts of the album that gives this album a more organic sound and atmosphere.
Matriarch will not only be one of the best debut albums you’ll hear this year but potentially one of the very best albums of the year. Tuskar have released something special with Matriarch and I can see them playing on some of the biggest Sludge, Doom and Stoner Metal stages very soon. These guys are going to be HUGE in the years to come.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Primate PR for the promo
Matriarch will be released on CD/DD/Vinyl via Church Road Records from February 25th 2022.
Links
