Release Date: July 19th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
Year Of The Hog: Tracklisting
Righteous Man
Rape Of The Poor
Skingrafter
Eye Of The Storm
Change My Name
Mockingbird
Supreme Truth
Year Of The Hog
Review
Year Of The Hog is the debut album from Prog/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Üga Büga who have a formidable presence within their hometown and local music scene of Charlottesville, Virginia. I heard their sublime single Righteous Man a few weeks ago and loved their take on the classic Progressive Sludge Metal sound with moments of glorious Stoner Metal grooves with a Thrashy undergroove.
You can easily compare Üga Büga to Mastodon with their Progressive Sludge techniques and certain creative rhythms but the band really thrive and stand out when they go slightly further with their FANTASTICAL story elements and more Psychedelic melodies throughout the album. Üga Büga even bring harsh DOOM & GLOOM surroundings into the mix with the vocals being quite OTT and THEATRICAL along the way especially within the stunning second track Rape Of The Poor. The music does move into other areas of Hard Rock with the lyrics having a slight APPALACHIAN theme which becomes more dominant as time passes by.
The multiple and different musical instrumental solos always impress with Üga Büga taking influence from Mastodon, Baroness, Thin Lizzy, The Sword and Saint Vitus. However, the WEEDIAN influence allows Üga Büga to try their hand at many different musical sounds such as GRUNGE even within the excellent third track Skingrafter which has epic sounding guitars and an aggressive rhythm section which shows a few twinges of Groove Metal with a pulsating THRASH based Stop/Start process that makes the record even more vibrant.
The album does sound quite raw indeed and offers quite an unapologetic flow within the production of the whole album. This record is a true representation of what Üga Büga actually sounds like in real life. There’s a few rough sounding moments on the later stages of the album but this is the type of debut album I always appreciate the most. As it gives Üga Büga a real human quality and makes the album feel ultimately real.
Üga Büga come into their own definitive sound on tracks such as Skingrifter, Eye Of The Storm, Supreme Truth and Year Of The Hog. As the band start to transfer their music into areas of Punk Rock and Classic Hard Rock which they bring with a deft creative touch and rebellious attitude appearing within the lyrics and vocals which can be quite emotionally offbeat as heard within Mockingbird.
Mockingbird feels like it’s been delivered by a different band with a more soulful style of Doomed Out Stoner Rock which peaks at the right time with the heavy and outlandish instrumental solos which Üga Büga should explore further in future.
I will admit Year Of The Hog took a few listens to fully appreciate and admire. As it’s quite a different and daring style of Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal with the Appalachian lifestyle perhaps being a big part of Üga Büga overall identity that makes this such a great album to fully lose yourself in.
I’m looking forward to hearing more great records from Üga Büga in the years to come as Year Of The Hog is a superbly heavy, apocalyptic and offbeat delight from start to finish.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Üga Büga for the promo.
Year Of The Hog will be available to buy digitally from all good stockists on Friday 19th July 2024.
Links
