Trans-Global collaboration in the sign of the riff released on a label named after the grandmaster of the riff himself! Slomatics and Yanomamo each contribute a track to a dark and fuzzy, feisty and dangerous 7-inch!
For decades now, people have been emulating and progressing the sound that started with The Iommi. And there are whole labels dedicated to the worship of the riff, for example Iommium Records from Down Under. A few years ago, there was a short-lived movement to have one of the last four discovered elements named after Lemmy fittingly as the , so the guys behind Iommium Records might have taken a clue from that. At now they release this slow-burning, stomach-churning 7-inch featuring two bands who really know how to fuzz out a riff, slow it down or speed it up a notch.
The release starts with the contribution by Sydney’s Yanomamo called ”Dig 2 Graves” which is some fine blackened sludge with just the right speed to allow the little details like a small variety in the bass-line to shine through. When the track slows down in the middle it gives the whole ritualistic song about a person possessed and obsessed with taking revenge and this menace becomes even more obvious after the break: the track speeds up and the vocals also become more frantic! A track like walking through the muddy mangroves of Louisiana (or Tasmania) with a Soul Demon bewitching you until you cannot think of anything but avenging your loss.
Belfast, Northern Ireland’s Slomatics are second with their song “Griefhound“ which is definitely more fuzzed out with a lot of heavy distortion turning the song into a feast for everyone who loves the riffs between Stoner and Sludge. The song is very dark which might be due to the fact that it was written during the pandemic surrounding us for so long now. Even though the band says that they like their songs to be a bit more pessimistic, they also locate this one on the darker side of things. And the veterans from Belfast are more and more turning into a split-machine as this is their second split release this year (after the one with Ungraven in March) and their ninth overall!
For all lovers of distortion, of heavy and mighty riffs – and for those who want to become one of these: Buy this record from Iommium Records and then play these two tracks over and over again like yours truly did – before he even thought about penning down these lines. Iommi should be proud that he started this path and that such great bands are still following it with reverence!
Here you can find the Yanomamo-track:
Here you can listen to the Slomatics-track:
