There have been a whole lot of shitty trends in metal music over the years; glam metal, hair metal, deathcore, metalcore, nu metal, viking metal, bad Meshuggah worship. They often come in bunches, and while we may be in the middle of a bunch of them (die scenesters die), we are also in the midst of some better ones. For example, there is lots of good Meshuggah-influenced bands around today (Periphery, Cilice, Fellsilent), and they often overshadow the heaps of shitty Meshuggah ripoffs. Another trend is the rise of sludgy stoner bands in the vein of early Mastodon. The key thing about this trend is that few of them suck. In fact, each time a new band arises out of that metal subsector, they are better than the last. This has been incredibly apparent this year; Baroness put out one of the year’s best, Struck By Lightning‘s debut was ferocious, Doomriders ripped face, Kylesa‘s Static Tensions grooved into many top of 09 lists, Black Cobra put out an underrated effort, Bloodhorse‘s Horizoner was epic. But while you could categorize any of these bands as part of that Mastodon-y groovy sludge sound, each band found their own areas of strength; Baroness’s blues-laden riffs, Doomriders’ hardcore attitude, Kylesa’s catchiness. And don’t forget the ‘Don themselves, putting out their proggiest and most emotional effort yet, Crack the Skye. There are plenty of other bands working their way into this promising scene, although you have to wonder if it is going to start to decay in quality like all of the other genres that this occurred to have. Before you worry about that, consider Kentucky’s Stonecutters, a group that is as heavy as Remission-era Mastodon, as groovy as any-era Mastodon, and as thrashy as ’80s Metallica. That equals one winning combination, a combination that is explored to great extent on their new awesomely-titled full-length Christhammer.
Christ. Hammer. Epic title, and yet it starts out with the quiet and eerie introduction “Muerta”, before blasting through the thrashy title track; stoner riffs at warp speed until the mid-point, when things get weird. The song slows down with a guitar-driven interlude that peruses into a phenomenal guitar solo that would make Brent Hinds happy. Eventually the track works its way back into the fast thrashy goodness that started the track out, only to end abruptly for “I, Wurdulak”. Groove takes centre stage on the third track, accompanied with powerful performances from vocalists/guitarists Brian Omer and Cliff Whitehead, who deliver crushing riffs and belting yells. Drummer Johnny Wooldridge also impresses; pounding rhythms with some impressively speedy drum fills that are well-placed throughout. The album’s best track, “Lonewolf”, is introduced with lead melodies that sound like something out of the prog-metal handbook, only to breakdown into sludgy territory that features mini-sections of guitar wizardry. Sounds like Mastodon meeting The Sword and having beautiful babymaking time. The halftime switch this time comes via another powerful melody that leads into a virtuoso-ish guitar solo, with mini solos from all of the instruments complimenting one of the riffs. The song ends on one of the most intricate musical sections on the album.
“Waverly” starts off the second half as another instrumentally-dominated number that puts destructive riffs on full display. “Liar in Wait” continues the weirdness left by “Muerta”, before chugging through two-and-a-half minutes of catchy sludge. Another clean guitar introduction starts off “X’s for Eyes”, a number that starts off much like a proggy Mastodon ballad. A well-phrased guitar solo helps the song transition into stoner territory, utilizing repetition and interesting guitar passages along the way. The song’s last minute-and-a-half is some of the album’s best seconds; a build up resolves in a phenomenal climactic triumph, ending on a chord that starts off the next track. “She is the Moon” starts off with another single-plucked guitar introduction, a common occurrence that gives Christhammer a bit of a progressive feel to it. Tom-driven drumming, pinch harmonics, and group vocals take over most of the song, which at five-minutes in length, is the second longest on the album to closer “Black Zion”. The band uses this time to explore ideas, engraving their name on the inside of your temple. The songwriting on this song is key, and like all of the other eight tracks on the album, Stonecutters excel at it, often combining two main ideas into a song, with variations and sub-ideas within those as well. Everything feels connected, and it leads to a cohesive listen. “Black Zion” starts off with a single-picked riff, but it is accompanied with a full band effort. Every cymbal is pummeled frequently by Wooldridge, and he utilizes a fast-paced punk beat for a portion of the song, complimenting the thrashy nature of the six-minute closer. By the end of the track, Stonecutters has reached their slowest and most effective climax on the disc. Destruction ensues, ending with some desperate and evil screams. Perfect closer.
“Trendster” is usually a negative term, but Stonecutters are clearly part of the post-early Mastodon phase dominated by stoner and sludgy metal. And if that is the case, the term can’t be entirely negative; Christhammer is one of the year’s heaviest and most impressive efforts, thrashing and sludging by with equal strength in each. And that other trend I mentioned early of each band one-upping each other? Well consider that occurrence alive and kicking; Stonecutters are the band to beat.
(9.0/10)
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