ALBUM REVIEW: Come & Chutney – Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters

This British psychedelic power trio, CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS, presents their new release Come & Chutney, due for release on July 13th, and featuring guest appearances by the likes of Chantal Brown of VODUN and Gary Harking from TEN FOOT WIZARD. Their tongue-in-cheek lyricism and track titles says it all about their sound and attitude. This album is drenched in interesting lyrics and down-tuned sludgy, fuzzy riffs, with a splash of delirium to taste.

The introducing track, Doggy Bag Of Slurry does a great job of setting the tone and warming up the listener to the rest of the album. From the get go there are groovy and distorted riffs, laced with melodic licks. As soon as the vocals hit, there’s a sudden rush of energy, with a style that is somewhat unique to the genre with aspects of black metal tied in. Frontman Owen Carty delivers both trippy riffs and abrasive vocals at the same time, an impressive feat for sure. The groove refuses to stop, as this relaxing, grungy vibe continues to the end of the track.

Straight off the bat, Will Hart unleashes a monster of a bassline that is unparalleled to anything else on the album. While Krones Of The Kiln is one of their shortest songs, standing in at three minutes and ten seconds, but with imagery and themes of witchcraft and the occult, this song is one of the grooviest in relation to its runtime. Cojones Feos is one of the slower paced tracks but includes more switch-ups and diversity with tempo than perhaps some others on the record. The first half is a little bit generic in stoner metal, however, in the latter half it shines through with faster paced riffs and some tasty guitar licks. Glue Ear is next up on the album, but unfortunately it just doesn’t live up to the quality of the album so far. Not that it is a bad song by any means, it just lacks individuality.

Gutlads takes the first minute to slowly warm up the listener with pacifying drums and melodic acoustic guitarwork. The stupefying, impactful drums smash their way to the foreground as the fuzz-laden riffs play puppet to the pace set by Mark Buckwell. Carty tears up the scene with a face-melting solo that knocks you back to reality in the last third of Gutlads, a fitting finisher for a powerful track. Speaking of powerful tracks, Gawdless holds back absolutely nothing, entering the fray with disgustingly hairy riffs. Just the intro alone makes the listener feel like they have bees in their skull. In the intermissions where the vocals take centre point, all through the background is Will Hart going mad on the bass, right until the end of this sadly short song.

Here we have a track that is sure to divide the masses, Döner Trump, a song designed specifically to mock and berate the President of the United States. With this one, there is no need for top notch lyrical analysis, as it’s pretty self-explanatory. However, the instrumental work on this track is on point, with a fantastic pace and plenty of juicy riffs and grooves to sink your teeth into. The changes of direction and sound are a welcome feature too and ties the whole track together.

At last, we arrive at the final stop with Psychedelic Hallucinogenic Vagrancy. This track is stunning display of the proficiency in the art that CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS has at their disposal. With an electrifying introduction of slow and mellow acoustic guitar harmonising with a dazzling solo, already this song is set to be the strongest on the album. This style of pace carries on for the majority of the track with multiple guitar solos and fantastic synchronicity throughout. At the four-minute mark we see the first introduction of VODUN‘s Chantal Brown, her vocals trippy and ethereal, lend itself to the track in an immense way, only improving it further. The final four and a half minutes contains their best work on the album, with some synth elements and a menagerie of solos. Every single instrument stands out and can be held to its own merit. Not only that, but it even introduces some rudimentary blues and soul aspects in right at the end, finishing the record off with an incredible high.

CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS have outdone themselves with this record. While there may be some weaker tracks in there that lack the spark of uniqueness, there are certainly some that are out of this world. The use of riffs and alternating timings during songs are a great way to break it up and add some diversity to their sound. The lyricism, track names, and the themes are staple for the trio now and while not deep and profound, they are something that music seems to often lack, and that’s fun. You can tell from listening to the album that it was enjoyable to make, and it is certainly entertaining to listen too, even for a chuckle. The real highs of this come from the unadulterated talent the band has. Come & Chutney is an album that followers of CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS will love, and fans of WEEDEATER and BONGZILLA will lap up too.

Rating: 8/10

Come & Chutney is set for release on July 13th via Riff Rock Records.

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