Release Date: May 17th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl
It Gets Worse: Tracklisting
1.More
2.A Heavy Sigh
3.Out of Reach
4.Mammoth
5.Beyond Gone
6.Fountain
7.Life Will Wait
8.Less
Band Members
Jade Ashleigh Squires
Thom Longdin
Review
Sludge/Noise/Drone/Doom Riffsters Kulk are back with their third offering It Gets Worse which is perhaps their heaviest, harshest and most brutal assault on the senses yet. Taking a more Hardcore driven and abrasive style of Sludge Metal yet which has echoes of bands such as Melvins, BORIS, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, SLEEP and fellow contemporary UK Sludge Rockers PIGS x7.
The majority of the tracks are filled with massive amounts of sonic and noise rock based distortion which allows Jade Ashleigh and Thom explore the darker side of gloomy down-tuned heaviness with aggressive creativity that still allows them the perfect opportunity to crank out some sizable EPIC sounding grooves along the way.
The opening tracks of More, A Heavy Sigh and Out Of Reach has a seedy AMPLIFIER WORSHIP and DOWN-TUNED drive which allows the trippy and demented vocals to perfectly assemble with the harsh grooves with a manic Psychedelic energy. The record leans into Heavy Psychedelia but one that is powered by distortion and a bleak sense of doomed out vibes throughout.
It Gets Worse is quite experimental with Kulk’s reliance on guitar reverb and dripping with multiple feedback loops which allows the Sludge Metal part of their music to impress the most. The added layers of Drone Metal works superbly well with the distorted and glitched out vocals on tracks such as Mammoth, Beyond Gone and Life Will Wait. You can hear a TORCHE based influence appearing within some of the lo-fi Sludge Metal aspects that appear on this track which was quite refreshing to hear but that could be my own personal experience with the album.
Kulk have a unique and genuinely exciting ability to create haunting, aggressive and nightmarish fuelled tracks that always offer gigantic grooves, riffs and sounds that allows the band to expand their superbly creative dominance unlike they’ve ever played before.
It Gets Worse is Kulk’s most intense, heaviest, catchiest and brilliantly outrageous record yet and one that will perhaps see the band become even heavier and weirder for future releases that follow. This could be the start of an exciting era or creative journey for Kulk who are no doubt destined for bigger and better things thanks to this release alone.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Primate PR for the promo.
It Gets Worse will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl from Friday 17th May 2024.
Links
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