My explorations into various sub-genres of metal lived and died within the five years I lived in Richmond, VA. With bands like Municipal Waste, Darkest Hour, and Battlemaster spitting fury around the city, there were healthy options available for satiating more heavy and aggressive desires. While I quickly moved into what might be called more sophisticated terrains, namely bands like OM and Earth, I can still appreciate some aspects of less concept-driven metal excursions if such an experience were to arise.

Jason Landrian (guitar, vocals) and Rafael Martinez (drums) whip up a heavy fury of double bass drum action and traditional doom and sludge riffs, but there is not an interesting use of space or stimulating intricacy that makes the early work of bands like The Melvins so memorable. The chugging pace is relentless, and while this is the quality that most listeners celebrate about no-frills metal, it’s awfully tedious to those who demand the possibility of autonomy to be an aspect of their listening experiences. The guitars are thick, the vocals growl, and the percussion locks it all together tightly, but there’s no diversity. The songs are ultimately indistinguishable, and this is the fatal flaw of the album. The nerdy, sci-fi lyrics, which are printed on the CD sleeve, are a whole different issue, but I’ll leave that for the curious listener. 5/10 -- Elliott Sharp (13 January, 2010)