Caustic

The Pitch: Bitter and...well...'Caustic' doom and sludge from the always bleak and depraved Primitive Man out of Colorado.  Presented by Relapse Records.  FFO Indian, Lord Mantis, Seedna

What I Like: The promo copy of this album was tagged with one word for the genre: "misery."  While it gave me a chuckle to see it, I can't think of a better description of Primitive Man's music.  Caustic is over an hour of endless torment and anguish; a level of suffering rarely understood beyond those who have truly experienced the toxic mixture of rage and sorrow that accompanies unexplainable loss; or perhaps acknowledgement of the infinite.  Musically, those familiar with the band will find themselves in familiar territory: soul-crushing, sustained chord progressions and anguished death metal howls.  I picked up on a few slight evolutions in the occasional (highly effective) use of guitar effects to heighten the experience as on "Commerce" and "Sugar Hole" among a few others   The sudden jolt of tracks like "Sterilty" are also welcome in terms of pacing. 

Critiques: If you lack patience, and avoid sounds based in drone, an hour and fifteen minutes may be a bit much.  You're not going to get much in the way of variation or surprises...just "another f#&king wasteland."   

The Verdict: Primitive Man aren't a band that one goes to for fun; listening is an act of self-inflicted punishment.  Caustic is the sonic equivalent of an extended session of flagellation.  That potentially sounds awful, but ultimately no one does it better than Primitive Man.  I am not generally a big fan of repetitious, droning doom... And yet this still gets me right where it matters. Ethan and company are the masters of misery indeed.  Stream it early HERE.

Flight's Fav's: Victim, Sugar Hole, My Will

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