Balls Deep – …and on the Eighth Day – Album Review
....and on the Eighth Day....God created groove metal!
Up to their nuts in muddy grooves, the UK’s Balls Deep return with …and on the Eighth Day and their knack for monstrous rhythms – that are practically duplicitous in their glorious simplicity – are as evident as ever!
Harnessing the brutality and groove of the nu-metal scene’s most ferocious acts (think the hardcore meets groove metal of Dry Kill Logic, Snot and Vision Of Disorder circa Imprint) squaring up to the might of Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel and Pantera’s Far Beyond Driven, and you’ll arrive on the doorstep of …and on the Eighth Day; an album that’s chock-a-fuckin’-block with pit igniting anthems.
No more so than on “A Life Less Overrated”, a track ferocious enough to have you knocking on your neighbours door, challenging his/her family to a violent mosh-off , stopping for a cup of tea (moshing is thirsty work and it’s the neighbourly thing to do) before using your own sweaty carcass to knock though their living room wall and single-handedly create that lounge/diner they’ve been harping on about for months!
Less concerned with interior design, what we’re getting at is that Balls Deep have penned the kind of songs that cause involuntary slammin’ and the remainder of the album maintains this level of barbarity throughout. Opener “Burn” is a searing scene-setter while “The Last Drop” – a distant cousin of Pantera’s “Becoming” – slows things down (a little) but still packs a powerful punch. Balls Deep even find time to throw a strangely subdued curveball into the mix. At complete odds with the remainder of the album, closing track “Wake” is a delicately strummed, cleanly sung semi-ballad, showcasing a side to Balls Deep that belies their name and their general ferocity….a wake up call, so to speak!
There’s nothing here that’s overly elaborate or overly technical, instead Balls Deep just concentrate on locking into timeless grooves, propelled by pummeling riffs and terrifying growls, to get the blood-flowing, the legs stomping and the head-banging with furious anger; simply manna from heaven for those who seek catharsis in music that unlocks the inner rage that bubbles away in all of us.
With …and on the Eighth Day, Balls Deep have undeniably taken huge strides in staking their claim as UK groove metal kings. Lamb of God et all had better watch their backs! 8/10
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