Release Date: August 13th 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD
Blood Moon Blues - Tracklisting
1.Misery 01:29
2.Hordes 06:44
3.Breathe 03:28
4.The Ballad of Jock Brown 06:49
5.Evil 05:40
6.Crank 03:26
7.Monolith 05:16
8.Forever More 07:47
9.Push the Venom 02:30
10.Deep In The Hole 04:05
11.You (a love song) 08:24
12.Misery (slight return) 03:17
Members
Bass - Cyn Bae
Drums - Nick Rad
Guitars - Regan Batley
Vocals - Cam Crichton
Additional Guitars, Mellotron and Percussion - Matt Dawkins
Additional Vocals - Cleo Morgan
Review
Aussie Stoner Metallers Motherslug are suffering from a severe case of the BLUES on their new album Blood Moon Blues. As this abum revels in the Blues Rock side of Doom/Stoner Metal with the band focusing upon their own twisted version of Folk Based AMERICANA or Country Outlaw Rock. This is an interesting creative direction that the band have taken with this album and it’s quite different to their 2017 album The Electric Dunes of Titan.
However their familiar sounding gloomy WEEDIAN grooves are still intact but with a more down-tuned and BLACK SABBATH based sound. Motherslug have written bleak and twisted lyrics for this album and Cam’s vocals are perhaps influenced by artists from the classic era of Grunge.
The psychedelic energy spiced throughout the album can be classed as NEGATIVE ENERGY but this adds to the overall sonic experience of the fantastic down-tuned grooves.
The first opening songs of Misery, Hordes and Breathe are sublime heavy WEEDIAN and DOOM based songs with Motherslug showing a wealth of creativity that keeps the mood vibrant and pulsating with some of the best sounds I’ve heard from the band to date.
Fourth song The Ballad Of Jock Brown was a real challenge to listen to and I was ready to press the fast forward button. As the first half is a Blues Rock/Americana based then the more exciting second half kicks in. As Motherslug plays a frantic blast of distorted Doom/Stoner Metal riffs that give this track SOUL. A track that has slowly become one of my favourite tracks on the album.
Motherslug continue with their BLUES ROCK based musical adventure with a slightly NOLA vibe appearing on the later stages of the album. The album could have easily run out of steam with its epic length of almost fifty nine minutes but Motherslug kept plugging away, performing one outstanding track after another.
Other great tracks to check out are: Evil, Monolith, Deep In The Hole and You (A Love Song)
Blood Moon Blues is a well crafted album with solid production values that only adds to the overall listening experience. This is still a “rough and ready” kind of album that Motherslug have perfected since their debut album.
Motherslug are one of the best bands from the underground Aussie Doom/Stoner Metal scene and this album only confirms that statement. This is a wickedly entertaining album that is Motherslug’s biggest and boldest album to date.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
