Personnel: Andy Strickland (vocals, guitar).
Recording information: Sniper Studios, VI (08/2005).
As if you couldn't tell from their debut album's title, We Hate You and Hope You Die, the word "subtlety" does not figure in the vocabulary -- verbal or musical -- of Ohio's Ultralord. Predominantly a sludge metal band, distinguished by the occasional thrashing and, alternately, doom tendencies, Ultralord's debut follows a similarly misanthropic path as their debut EP, 2005's Ac I; its eight vitriol-filled slabs are aimed directly at God, the world, the universe, etc. -- positive stuff, in other words. Notable tracks like opener "Wizard Pimp," "Black Maggot," and furious standout "Blood Sinner" (reminiscent of early Celtic Frost or contemporaries Lair of the Minotaur) stoke the fires of amphetamine-paced hell before descending into impossibly heavy, doom-like grinds. Other cuts "Negative D," "Dirty Living," and the amusingly named "Don't Fear the Reefer" take the inverse route, with riffs both sinister and hypnotic that embrace feedback as a key songwriting component -- solidifying the band's debt to Southern sludge masters Eyehategod. Together, all of these tracks (plus the slightly overlong "Pussy Witch" and the instrumental "Roach Detector"), don't exactly tip the creativity scales into realms of genre-busting originality, but benefit from enough unexpected contrasts to achieve some decent memory retention. That -- and their shamelessly vile, heavy metal attitude -- should help get Ultralord noticed right from the start. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia minimize