ALBUM REVIEW: Hashension – TONS
Manifesting out of a cloud of hazy smoke with a strong devotion to the Green God, which has grown from the strongest kush buds, is the Italian quartet TONS. Fresh off the back of their infamous Doom Sessions, Vol. 4 split EP with stoner legends BONGZILLA, the third, psychedelia-drenched, sludgy chapter of TONS takes you on journey beyond the mortal realms of consciousness. With the band’s roots embedded in the hardcore punk scene, Hashension doesn’t just give you crushingly heavy grooves, it comes with a snarl-toothed bite and a rough edge, as swirling psychedelia collides with corrosive metallic distortion.
It is safe to say that this album is grimy in every conceivable way. Crystalline bong vapours stick to the peeling wallpaper of you local dingy cellar dive bar as the fuzzing distortion pierces your ears. TONS bring a whole new level of punk attitude to their sound, doubling down on their Goliath killing riffs and moving away from the more melodic riffing of their previous albums. Shaking the foundations of this metaphorical dive bar from the depths of the basement by unleashing a demonic menace through their amplifiers, Hashension is an album that wants to stomp around and throw things. It’s visceral, primal and bruising, as if the demons that adorn its cover are wreaking havoc in your headphones as they rush around you skull, smashing hammers on your cranium. As your shoes stick to the floor of this greasy establishment, you can feel the striking physical presence of this album looming over you, ready to grind you up for its next blunt.
The hardcore influences are felt instantaneously as the low, grumbling metallic riffs of instrumental introductory track Dope Dealer Scum. As the thunderous hammers of Hashension begin to swing and pound with full force, it is safe to say this isn’t your average stoner sludge record. With this extra layer of attitude and hardcore menace, Hashension definitely feels more imposing and formidable. This is only accentuated by the more conservative use of psychedelic elements, keeping the album firmly in the swampy, grimy and sludgy setting of a bubbling, gunge-filled quagmire. Whilst TONS do utilise the swirling elements associated with psychedelia, they have gone down a more abrasive route compared to their previous album, 2018’s Filthy Flowers Of Doom, which was bedecked with the blues-based riffing of traditional stoner rock. We saw this abrasiveness start to form on Doom Sessions, Vol. 4, but now it is in full force and taking no prisoners as the band lean even more strongly into their hardcore roots and influences.
The aforementioned opener Dope Dealer Scum sets the scene for the album, a gradually building song with a catchy, hypnotic, doom-laden riff. Ominous lead melodies weave themselves around this pounding rhythms before droning out and giving way to A Hash Day’s Night. This song kicks off the album properly, with a hearty dose of frantic hardcore riffing and vocals, the dizzying pace of the opening salvos catches you off guard and disorientates you completely after the hypnotic rumbles of the opening track. Slowly We Pot brings the energy down to more comfortable sludge levels, with bludgeoning chromaticism, the song reintroduces the ominous and dark melodic leads that entrance you through the waves of fuzz and distortion.
Hempathy For The Devil feels more like a traditional stoner doom song; with the Devil’s tritone deployed in full force, it feels like the hardcore version of BLACK SABBATH. Half-time drums open up an abyssal pit with a stronger gravitational pull than the Earth’s core, pulling you down into its never ending spiral. Ummagummo gives a nod to the band’s album of yesteryear, as it utilises more psychedelic elements to prepare you for the final battle with this monolithic weeding demon. For the first and only time, TONS unleash a rousing and lofty guitar solo, which is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album. Closer Hashended distils all the core elements of this album whilst using the usual stoner film sample trope. As the bewildering riffs fade into feedback, you’re left a disorientated heap on the floor.
Hashension straddles the line between sludge and hardcore; bringing a crude punk raucousness into a genre that is usually pretty sedate feels like whiplash. Reminiscent of early EYEHATEGOD, TONS have evolved themselves into a weed smoking, demon stomping, moshing machine on Hashension.
Rating: 8/10
Hashension is set for release on October 7th via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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