ALBUM REVIEW: Deepwoods Shack Of Sodomy – Slob
When inspecting the debut album from brutal death metal duo SLOB, the alarmingly titled Deepwoods Shack Of Sodomy, you may be quite surprised to learn that rather than coming from some hoaky, stagnant, mosquito infested swamp somewhere deep in America’s south, they in fact hail from the green and pleasant land that is the UK. The perverse pair, made up of Ross Honour (Guitar) and James Murphy (Guitar/Vocals/Drum Programming) formed the band in 2013, but have only just (nearly ten years later!) deigned to release their first batch of putrid, riff-laden bile.
From the outset, a content warning should almost definitely be provided for the material contained herein. It should be noted that this album is not for the faint of heart – not because the music or vocals are so outwardly extreme that they will disturb the listener, but instead because the lyrical themes and choice of samples ran throughout are utterly obsessed with sexual assault. The best advice that could be given would likely be to avoid this album entirely if you find this triggering as it is laced completely throughout. For example, the intro to the album, classily titled simply Sodomy In The Swamp, is just the entire “Squeal like a pig” scene from Deliverance set to strange, low-fi swamp sound effects. It gets things off to a pretty horrendous start and stays in that vein throughout.
Following on from this we find Squeal Like A Pig. It’s a fairly typical cocktail of guttural vocals and taut, snapping riffs. The combination of drum programming and film samples betrays its blatantly obvious MORTICIAN worship fairly early on. Title track Deepwoods Shack Of Sodomy is slightly more substantial, opening with a tortured howl from a guitar that sounds like it’s being throttled before progressing into a battering, low-IQ assault of chainsaw riffing. This eventually drops tempo into a gore-splattered slam that provides the backdrop for a filthy and actually fairly unique-sounding guitar solo. It’s a shame then that they decide to drop a sample from I Spit On Your Grave at the end there. Specifically one which involves a horrifically grim assault. Be warned with this one.
Perhaps sensing that the last sample was maybe a little over the top, the SLOB boys leave it out for a while and the tunes get all the better for it. Hogtied And Sodomized provides grimy riffs and stomach-churning animalistic vocals in a battering wave, while Alligator Death Roll is probably the best track of the album. Opening on a meaty riff which sets the tone for things to come, this is another full-on MORTICIAN worship track, to the point you can almost see Will Rahmer doing the “nasty riff” face somewhere in the background as this plays. Towards the end they slow it right down into a sickeningly bombastic, sadistic throb that flows like blood-flecked swamp sludge down to its bitter conclusion.
In a surprising twist, there’s another quote from Deliverance to be found as we make our very own Wrong Turn into the album’s closing minutes. “You ain’t never gonna get down to Aintry… You done taken the wrong turn…” our threatening hillbilly guide informs us. Fortunately, what we find on the other side of this quote is marginally more pleasant than could be said for the fellows from the aforementioned movie. Wrong Turn is more of the same: pulverising knucklehead riffs and guttural vocals. Final track Pitchfork Puncture Wounds is one of those songs where you can almost sense the yawning void of a circle pit opening up right next to you as soon as it starts. It sits more in the slightly thrashier vein of slabby, brutal death metal, even featuring a coiling SLAYER riff, but also knows when to drop the tempo into a stinking pit of power chords that hit so hard they might well shatter bones and rupture ligaments
Overall this is an album of sharp disappointment from SLOB. Taken just for the music it is fairly passable, with some moments of excellence mottled throughout like fat through meat, but in others it provides simply bog-standard brutal death metal. However, the rape-obsessed nature of its samples and lyrical content turns it into being truly disgusting and hardly something that will warrant repeat listens; the riffs just aren’t strong enough to call anyone back. Once we escape the shack and make our way out of the swamp, we’ll certainly be gone for good…
Rating: 4/10
Deepwoods Shack Of Sodomy is out now via Comatose Music.
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