By: TJ Kliebhan
Album Type: Full-Length
Date Released: 05/02/2016
Label: Relapse Records
“Ezekiel’s Hags” contains a vile amalgamation of death metal, sludge
metal, and doom metal influences to create abrasive and noisy instrumentals. The transitions between styles very much feel
carefully crafted and meticulously created and the band constantly keeps your
attention as the next phases of songs unfold, creating a record that is
grotesque and pummeling.
“Ezekiel’s Hag” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1). Jones
2). Denounce
3). Gutter
4). Plateau
5). Brother’s River
6). Prey
7). Third Season
8). Sacred Prostitute
9). Ud-Nun
10). War Master
11). Bastard Son (Bonus Track)
The Review:
“Ezekiel’s Hags” is the third record from Seven Sisters of
Sleep and their first on legendary metal label Relapse Records. The
band promised to be heavier and gnarlier than ever before and on that aspect
the record definitely delivers. “Ezekiel’s
Hags” contains a vile amalgamation of death metal, sludge metal, and doom
metal influences to create abrasive and noisy instrumentals. Seven Sisters of Sleep are very much a multi-faceted band
and most of these songs transition between slower doom, heavy sludge, and
frenetic death metal paces which give the record a generous amount of
diversity. “Ezekiel’s Hags” is not
always moving at a breakneck pace but the record can be an exhausting
experience because it exercises so many different ideas at once. The
transitions between styles very much feel carefully crafted and meticulously
created and the band constantly keeps your attention as the next phases of songs unfold. Seven Sisters of Sleep very much did create a record that
is overly grotesque and pummeling, but it is not without showing off some
catchy sludge riffs as well. Tracks like “War
Master” and “Denounce” feature
some well written and pleasurable riffs which offer brief moments of relief
amongst all the catharsis.
The most
unrelenting and harsh portions of this record come from the vocal performance
of Tim McClary. McClary offers a harrowing performance on this album. His vocal
inflections are numerous, yet always carry a large amount of weight and
exasperation in their delivery. There is a real sense of rage and torture
behind his groans and shrieks that give the record an overwhelming feeling of
despair and hopelessness. “Ezekiel’s
Hags” becomes the nightmare it sets out to be in large part due to
McClary’s brilliant and harsh vocals.
“Ezekiel’s Hags” does suffer from a bit of a lack of identity. The
different styles and paces are well balanced, but occasionally that works
against the record. Tracks such as “Prey”
has a great sludge riff, but the band insists on speeding up the tempo only to
slow it down again seemingly just to conform to their own identity. It makes Seven Sisters of Sleep harder to classify which can be a
good thing, but at times less enjoyable as well. The tempo change goes straight
into high gear when something slower would have felt a bit more cohesive and
less predictable. By the end of the record the formula Seven Sisters of
Sleep have put together is more exposed, but that hardly means that
the formula is not effective. Big riffs and speed serve their purpose to create
a tense, cramped, and hectic atmosphere. The familiarity of the song structures
just remove a bit of the venom this record initially bites with.
“Ezekiels
Hags”
is available here
