https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

On Wax: Blackwitch Pudding, Taste the Pudding

Posted in On Wax on March 10th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Dressed in wizard robes and toting songs like “Crabs” and “Super Sluts from Outer Space” — I think I saw that movie — the trio Blackwitch Pudding emerge from Portland, Oregon, with a forceful helping of semi-psychedelic sludge on their first LP, Taste the Pudding. I’ve worked pretty hard to do so and found myself largely unable to get past the classically metallic misogyny of the album’s cover, which falls flat of intentional irony and saps This is Spinal Tap of its satire while trading a leash for a blindfold, thus leaving open the possibility that, hey, maybe she’s into it and this is a practice in which she’s engaging as part of a loving, fulfilling relationship, only to close it again via the element of force implied by the second hand behind the drawn figure’s head. But because one only invites bullshit by namecalling (there’s only so many times I’m willing to hear that I “don’t get it”), I’ll stick to the music of the self-releasing three-piece’s debut. They make glorious use of dirt-encrusted tonal largesse, veering here and there into more extreme, Zoroaster-esque growling murk on “Shark Commando” and their finale, while saving start-stop plod for “Crabs” on side B.

The wizard-centric lineup of guitarist Space Wizard, bassist Lizard Wizard and drummer Wizard Wizard — they’re like the Ramones, only magical — plant a foot deep in the post-Sleep school of riff worship, but there’s a character to 10-minute closer “Acid Castle Mountain Top” that portrays more than “Dragonaut” imitation, Blackwitch Pudding leaving most of the all-out growls for the end of each half of the album, which is something all the more apparent on the vinyl version than the CD or digital, though Taste the Pudding benefits from the variety in whichever format. They ultimately descend in that closer from a trance-inducing nod to a smoke-clouded and noisy finish with even the drums spaced out by the end, all degenerating over a bed of constant toms, much darker and heavier than the don’t-take-it-too-seriously art and titles would seem to dogwhistle to the converted. Earlier on, “Gathering Panties” churns with beastly aplomb, a blast of low-end underscoring a riff that would otherwise motor were it not too monolithic to budge on the way to more fast/slow tradeoffs. Tempo dexterity works to Blackwitch Pudding‘s advantage from the start on opener “Mortre’D,” which drones and rumbles and abyss-shouts its way to life over the course of its seven-plus minutes, only to smoothly culminate with an increasingly speedy rush at the end of it.

And “Super Sluts from Outer Space,” which follows, may be the shortest cut of the bunch — also probably the most stoner rock, thickening and obscuring an otherwise Red Fang-style mover groove, though there’s plenty of dank competition — but even it finds room for a moment’s pause in the middle, brief as it is. I find some of the album’s most effective bludgeonry to be in “Swamp Gas of the Nevermizer,” which blends airy psychedelic leads with crunching riffs, the already-noted fluidity of tempo, lyrics that may or may not be about farts, and even touches on blending the cleaner and more abrasive vocal approaches on display elsewhere in various measure. As the start of side B, it’s a standout cut anyway, though not the apex of Taste the Pudding itself, which make no mistake arrives in “Acid Castle Mountain Top.” Still, the overarching impression of Blackwitch Pudding‘s debut — visuals aside — is in its showcasing of the trio’s tones and how they might proceed from here to pummel their listeners with them. It’s a more than effective display, proving particularly through Lizard Wizard‘s bass that low end can reach just as impressive expanses as echoing, richly effected guitar. If you’ve got speakers you’re looking to get rid of, Blackwitch Pudding would seem a worthy way of blowing them out.

Blackwitch Pudding, Taste the Pudding (2013)

Blackwitch Pudding on Thee Facebooks

Blackwitch Pudding on Bandcamp

Tags: , , , , ,