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Charger - The Foul Year Of Our Lord
Charger - The Foul Year Of Our Lord
2000
By Philip Whitehouse
Another band taking pride of place amongst the British sludgecore collective, Charger seem set to cause even more eardrum injuries than their more illustrious counterparts, Raging Speedhorn.
This six-track EP, The Foul Year Of Our Lord, follows on the heels of the acclaimed underground Fuzzbastard EP, although for many this will be the first they've ever heard of Charger.
God help them. They may be one vocalist and one guitarist short of matching the 'Horn person for person, but Charger still succeed in making as godawful a racket as they possibly can. In a good way. The sludgy, detuned riffs swamp over the listener like an oil spill over a swimmer on the Blackpool sea, while the singer's schizophrenic screaming add a genuinely disturbing air to the proceedings. The bass guitar's presence is actually felt, which makes something of a change in metal bands, and the drumming is faultless (if in places slightly over reliant on cymbal crashes).
Album highlights are 'Violent Summer' - a mosh-friendly apocalypse of a track featuring Mitch Harris from Napalm Death on guest vocals, and 'xtab' - a ten minute long, detuned, down-tempo, demonic soundtrack to a mental breakdown. Fabulous.
Raging Speedhorn have a new contender. The ball's in the Corby collective's court now.
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