Release Date: August 29th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Old Animals - Tracklisting
1.Blüd 07:42
2.Happy Drone 04:02
3.Until the Bitter End 06:24
4.Undeserving Favor 07:10
5.Waster 07:37
6.Monument 06:08
7.A Chance to Escape 07:38
8.Tongue of Snake 04:43
Members
Jonathan Portnoy – Bass & Moog Synth.
Jason Kowalski – Drums & Vox.
Zachary Stauber – Guitars & Leads.
Tanner Crace – Guitars, Vocals & Synths.
Review
Old Animals emerges from the Sludge/Post-Metal spectrum where they fully harness their primal sound with a multitude of different sounds and progressive passages. The record is composed of Shoegaze, Psych, Drone, Noise and is full of Blackened elements with a certain experimental quality to them.
Old Animals feels inspired by the likes of Mastodon, Neurosis, ISIS and TOOL. It’s quite an expansive album with Old Animals employing different styles of Sludge Metal. There is a level of aggression and psychedelic energy which sees the “LOUD vs QUIET” dynamic of the record screaming out for complete creative control at times.
The use of synths is a very cool touch with Old Animals adding a Trippy and Post-Rock quality to their music with flashes of Thrash and Classic Hard Rock along the way. With this being a very multi-layered and progressive album not everything lands as it should first time round but with each passing listen, you begin to understand what Old Animals are striving to achieve on songs such as Blüd, Happy Drone and Undeserving Favour within the first half. The record is highly technical with Old Animals excelling playing different styles of music.
With the vocals switching between Harsh Growls and Clean Vocals which adds a level of real ferocity to the mix but there’s a cool switch into Post-Doom and Psych Metal surroundings which showcases a level of maturity within the creative framework from Old Animals. There’s an Alt Metal vibe emerging with the switching of vocals that becomes part of the norm and should delight fans of Mastodon and Neurosis.
The second half of the album is where everything becomes clearer with Old Animals making the listener more comfortable with their surroundings as the music is more dynamic and showcasing a heavier and riff-centric energy. The extra added use of certain ambient noises and trippy effects adds a “COSMIC” vibe that makes the music even more mysterious especially on the standout tracks of Waster, Monument and A Chance To Escape.
Old Animals have the “big guns” helping behind the scenes with mixing duties handled by Matt Bayles and Brad Boatright on mastering duties. Two legendary folks who’ve been involved with a ton of classic records over the years and they allow Old Animals to do their thing and release an album of real quality that’s also quite grounded at the same time.
If you want a Sludge Metal/Post-Metal record that ventures into the classic era of the genres but one that fully expresses its modern day identity then Old Animals is the band for you. As this is a superbly realized and brutally heavy sonic assault on the senses.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
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