Release Date: April 26th 2024. Record Label: Season Of Mist. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
The Way Forward - Tracklisting
1.Out Of Grasp
2.Brushfire
3.Harness (The Alchemist)
4.Lessons Through Deception
5.Breath Of Life
6.Dance On Your Grave
7.Against The Undertow
8.Lift Yourself
9.Ocean Of Obsidian
10.Flee From Dawn
11.The Way Forward
Members
Andrew Fidler - Guitar + Vocals
James May - Drums + Vocals
Chris "Scary" Adams - Guitar + Vocals
Derek Lynch - Bass, Vocals and Synths
Review
Sludge/Stoner Metallers Black Tusk have come roaring back to form with their most outstanding record in years with The Way Forward. Their turbo charged style of Punk, Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal which they call Swamp Metal has been at the cornerstone of the scene for almost twenty years now. Their last album T.C.B.T. was made and released after the tragic loss of their brother and band-mate Jonathan Athon which is still a great album felt a bit out of place compared to the rest of the Black Task catalogue.
You don’t experience that feeling with The Way Forward as Black Tusk return to their most PRIMAL and PUNK inspired sound with a catchy Speed Metal style of music buried within their trademark Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves which offers moments of heavy carnage on the bruising opening tracks of Out Of Grasp, Brushfire and Harness (The Alchemist).
The vocals feel like they’re shared equally between all band members which allows the record to have a constant change of different and aggressive sounding vocals. The Hardcore element is superbly handled throughout with the bone-crunching metallic grooves having a sense of Progressive Metal behind them especially on tracks such as Breath Of Life, Dance On Your Grave, Against The Undertow, Flee From Dawn and The Way Forward.
The Way Forward sees Black Tusk being brutally honest and open with some hard-hitting lyrics spliced throughout the album which matches the bleak sounding music they play on the album. However, there’s a ton of classic Heavy Metal guitar shredding and wicked solos which has that classic Savannah, Georgia blend of metal fusing with other areas of Sludge/Stoner Metal which provided bands such as Baroness and Kylesa. Black Tusk have never gone for a more commercial sound like Baroness have done over the years. They’ve remained a primal force of nature with their music having a quality destructive and nihilistic vibe on certain parts of the album.
You’ll be surprised at the high amount of epic instrumental jams and classic head-banging sounds that Black Tusk have conjured up with this release. Small movements of Psychedelic Rock/Metal even manage to sneak within the Swamp Metal carnage which allows The Way Forward to have a sense of human emotion from start to finish. The clever use of Synths and trippy sound effects shows that Black Tusk are willing to experiment with their own music for the greater good and this allows The Way Forward to perhaps being their atmospheric album yet with some fantastic DRONED OUT textures appearing on the later stages of the record.
The Way Forward is BLACK TUSK doing what they do best and that’s playing a ton of fucked up and fast-paced grooves that destroys everything within its wake.
Awesome. End Of.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Season Of Mist for the promo.
The Way Forward is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Season Of Mist from Friday 26th April 2024.
Links
Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram
