Atavist - Atavist

The band's first full length.

When you say "3 songs.. 66 minutes" you will get a lot of different reactions. The general reaction is fear and/or disgust, as images of endless prog wank or incredibly slow funeral doom come to mind. Of course, there's plenty of people out there who dig there prog wank, and likewise there's quite a few of us doomsters who appreciate a little bit of slo-mo metal once in a while. Not that this is really funeral doom, as such. Atavist traffic in sludge- but not sludge as you know it. This album could be seen as the logical progression of bands like Eyehategod and maybe even Khanate. The songs are long and real slow, but there's twists in this tale.

One of the cool things about Atavist is that they're not afraid to do some different stuff. Whether that means occaisonally rocking out with a faster, more stoner rock-y riff, or dropping in some melodic, atmospheric touches in the songs, Atavist should keep most people interested. The first song is a great example of this. Witness the propulsive riff early on, and just when you're getting your sludge on, these krazy dudes drop in a post-metal build up that catches you off guard. Or, the delicate melodic guitars that take up the first few minutes of the second song. To me, it seems that Atavist dislike super long sludge songs, so that's why they break them up with a ton of other stuff, whether it be melodic if sludgy riffs, or some relatively fast paced riffs.

Of course, that's not to say that Atavist can't deploy the super distorted, 2 BPM sludge. That's what most of the album is about, basically. And damn, does it pack a punch- super distorted guitars, some of the most low tuned bass you've ever heard, all wrapped up in a super thick production with some great growled vocals over the top. TO me, it sounds a lot like Electric Wizard playing at half, or quarter speed. It's done pretty damn well, and I think most sludge fans should love this.

Basically, this is a really solid album, with a lot of sludge but plenty of variety to keep you all interested.

Get it here..