Release Date: March 29th 2024. Record Label: Seeing Red Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Reclaim - Tracklisting
1.To Reclaim 04:28
2.Snake Mountain 06:54
3.Destitute 08:29
4.The Maneuver 05:19
5.Riddle of Steel 03:09
6.Burn Scar 11:27
Members
Mike Crew
Dan Elsen
Chris Roberts
Adam Scarborough
Review
Sludge/Stoner Metallers Shadow Limb emerge from a five year slumber with their new album Reclaim and sees the band conjuring up even crazier sounds heard on their last album. The album is quite complex with multiple levels of Progressive grooves which have a Mastodon and Neurosis vibe to them at certain parts of the album.
Shadow Limb makes HEAVY ROCK music with brains and brawn to match with their intelligent lyrics written for the whole album. The sound is always multi-layered with multiple different styles of music going on and with the vocals feeling inspired by Mike Patton, Frank Zappa and Maynard James Keenan within the clean vocal passages that appear on the album. Though, there’s a never ending amount of harsh growls that gives Reclaim a more menacing sound.
The opening two tracks of To Reclaim and Snake Mountain are quite different to each other with both tracks using different styles of Sludge/Stoner Metal. To Reclaim is the classic Progressive Sludge Metal style where the grooves are menacing as hell and Snake Mountain is where Shadow Limb become more outlandish and quite freaky with their music. The sound is almost “JAZZ” based on the technical sounds that the band plays on this song alone. As I said shades of Mastodon do appear if Mastodon were fronted by Maynard James Keenan or Frank Zappa but Shadow Limb still create their own delightful and uniquely heavy sound which becomes even stranger and heavier as the record moves on.
Third track Destitute opens with a more “Folk” or “Doom” approach which evokes memories of 1970’s Prog Rock with a sludgy instrumental movement appearing which progresses into more Psychedelic sounds. The vocals once again impress yet again with a different storytelling vibe fully emerging. Though, the mood returns to a more threatening style of modern day Sludge/Stoner Metal. The overall sound feels quite cold and solitary at times which is perhaps down to the stripped back nature of the whole song. This is one of the standout tracks of the album which shows what Shadow Limb do best.
The next two songs of The Maneuver and Riddle Of Steel combine Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal themes with fantastical lyrics and extended instrumental passages with kick-ass vocals to match. Shadow Limb even found the time to include moments of Classic Hard Rock and 1980’s Heavy Metal into the mix which was an unexpected delight. There’s a superb level of technical ability being played on these two tracks alone which sees Shadow Limb play some highly original sounds and grooves across the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal spectrum.
The final track Burn Scar is a progressive musical odyssey where the subtle Psychedelic Sludge sound is played at a mid-to-slow pace with echoes of Prog Doom/Stoner Rock appearing which allows Shadow Limb adequate time to create a more destructive force to the record which they do on multiple occasions. The harsh vocals have a sense of realism and purpose to them with the music becoming ever more HEAVIER and PROGRESSIVE with Shadow Limb closing the album to its natural conclusion
There was mention of a bonus digital only track called Soon but my review copy never had that track included but I did listen to the track on Shadow Limb’s BandCamp page. It’s a great track but I csn see why it was included as a bonus track. There are some epic progressive sounds and sublime vocals with a great performance by Jake Kilgore as well. Though, I prefer Reclai ending with Burn Scar. As it feels a natural conclusion to such a breathtaking album.
Shadow Limb have delivered the goods with Reclaim which could see them make a mighty impression with the Sludge/Stoner Metal scene and perhaps play on some of the more prestigious stages the scene has to offer.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram
