Shroud Eater
Thunder Noise
(Self-Released)
Well, the people asked for it and here it is: our beloved Shroud Eater's first full-length effort, Thunder Noise. And I can tell you whole-heartedly that it continues the savagery and unrestrained stoner metal doom laid out in 2009's self-titled EP.
Nothing short of a category-five hurricane, Thunder Noise brings on everything that is good to the foreground with sadistic gusto. These are eleven tracks of soul-destroying, mind-melting chaos.
Featuring the guitar and vocals of Jeannie Saiz and the well-gelled rhythm section of Janette Valentine on bass and Felipe Torres on drums, Shroud Eater does right here at every turn. Opener "High John the Conqueror" is an apocalyptic tale of betrayal and redemption before the one-two punch of "Vesuvius" and "Cyclone" round out the first act.
And here I will take the time to cry foul on the only blemish I found on this album: the inclusion of "Vesuvius," "Cyclone," and "We Are Beasts," which formed the aforementioned EP. It kind of renders the EP (now in its second pressing) obsolete, rather than a stand-alone artifact within the Shroud Eater canon.
Shroud eater promo from SHROUD EATER on Vimeo.
In any case, "Shark Valley" gets us going with a pastoral rambling before becoming fused steel; an excellent instrumental track for those who seek artistry within the realms of metal. "Descent From the Summit" is Saturn devouring his children while "Oubliette" is another instrumental piece that shows off this band's natural chemistry.
You can catch a bit of "Baying of Jackals" in the promo clip above by Greg Alvarez of The Jagged. The closing act is comprised of "Sinister Hunt" a birth-by-fire narrative of self-awakening, the delicious instrumental "Hands That Prey" and the closer end-of-days "Pale Rider."
With the bar set sky high, I personally can't wait for a follow-up album or EP, I only ask that whatever they bring forth next they allow to stand alone, you know, for pretentious record-collecting assholes like myself. Solid. Oh, and another thing, my CD smells like pomegranates and blueberries, that's metal as fuck!
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