ALBUM REVIEW: The Mound Builders – The Mound Builders
Since their formation in 2008 the volume of new original material from THE MOUND BUILDERS has been relatively small. After the release of their debut full length album Strangers From A Strange Land way back in 2011 the band have only put out two split releases (equating to four original songs) and an EP entitled Wabash War Machine back in 2014. Now though, in 2019, that can all be forgiven because the boys are back with their brand new eponymous album with the intent to destroy everything in their path.
Album opener Torchbearer wastes very little time in showing what THE MOUND BUILDERS are all about. The fuzz-drenched drawn out chords, dirty low end bass and full sounding drums sound like they could have been laid down by the doom metal overlords BLACK SABBATH themselves. The track lumbers along at a sluggish pace, building the brooding sense of atmosphere gradually before expertly switching the pace up to give the track an almost punk rock feel. The vocals from Jim Voelz sound as powerful and dangerous as ever with it appearing as though he is pushing his vocal chords to their very limit and with guitarist Brian Boszor digging deep into his seemingly bottomless bag of heavy, catchy riffs and Tony Iommi-influenced solos this eponymous release is off to an impressive start.
The following track Hair Of The Dogma is a much more straight forward affair. The high paced delivery and overall aggression of the song sees the band toeing the line between traditional metal music and hardcore punk and wouldn’t be too out of place on a HIGH ON FIRE album. Drummer Jason “Dinger” Brookhart hits the drums with such ferocity that it’s a wonder that the kit had to be recorded through microphones at all and links up perfectly with bassist Ryan Strawsma to create the grooves that the music relies so heavily on.
Acid Slugs is possibly the highlight of the entire album and shows the band switching up their style entirely and embracing their sludge metal influences. The slow, crawling pace and dense, deep guitar tone add to the overall claustrophobic feel of the track with the simplistic lead guitar line providing the only relief from the overwhelming heaviness of the proceedings whilst simultaneously proving that in some instances less notes sometimes provide far more. At the halfway point of the song the pace picks up along with the introduction of vocals changing the direction of the song seamlessly without throwing off the flow at all. The closing segment throws another left turn in to the mix and shows the band fully embracing the grooves and swagger of southern metal bands such as DOWN and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY showing that the musicians have the ability to wear plenty of different hats depending on the requirements of the song at hand.
The penultimate track on the album Broken Pillars is another chance for THE MOUND BUILDERS to flex their riffing muscles. The band have certainly found a penchant for writing infectious grooves and picking out the perfectly dense, heavily fuzzed guitar tones to voice them. The rhythm section once again lay down a solid foundation with the drum work and bass linking up perfectly and encouraging the listener to move along subconsciously to the point where you almost forget that this is aggressive metal music. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this track and indeed the rest of the album is the simplicity in the structure of the songs. This is not to say that the instrumental parts of the songs are novice and unimaginative in a way, in fact it is quite the opposite. Rather, the band felt more on feel and riffs that double as hooks to lure the listener in rather than burning their fretboards with hundreds of unnecessary notes in order to wow people.
This album is a tremendous feat for a band that appear to have all the tools required to be a successful metal outfit in 2019 and it is in that fact that the frustrations really grow. When THE MOUND BUILDERS are capable of penning a collection of tracks at this kind of high level, it is a tremendous shame that they seem to so seldom release full length albums. The Mound Builders is a superb release and if this is a sign of things to come for 2019 then it could prove to be a truly be a vintage year.
Rating: 9/10
The Mound Builders is out now via Failure Records & Tapes.
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