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Groan, Ride the Snake EP: By the Slice

UK reefer metallers Groan don’t leave much room for ambivalence. With their new Superhot Records EP, Ride the Snake, as with their 2012 full-length, The Divine Right of Kings (review here), they demand declaration either of allegiance or antipathy over the course of five tracks, and if you haven’t climbed on board their debauched, medieval-themed fancy dress party boat yet, then chances are the chicanery on Ride the Snake cuts like “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” isn’t going to win you over to their side. And if not, something tells me vocalist Andreas “Mazzereth” Maslen, bassist Leigh Jones, guitarists Mike Pilat and Jimmy Beedham and drummer Zel Kaute would keep doing what they’re doing anyway, since nothing seems to have slowed them down up to this point with tongue-in-cheek rockstar shenanigans, including a slew of lineup changes around Maslen and Jones, who are the sole founding members remaining from Groan‘s 2010 debut, The Sleeping Wizard (review here). That a band would shift members in their earlier going isn’t such a surprise — it happens more often than not — but Groan seem to have a steady turnover rate of people in and out on drums and guitar. Both Kaute and Beedham came in as replacements for Chris West, who first switched from drums to guitar and then left altogether — he serves as engineer on Ride the Snake, so take “altogether” for what it’s worth — and Pilat is also a recent-enough addition to not have played on The Divine Right of Kings. If Groan‘s intent with these songs was to feel out the dynamic of their new lineup (I’m not sure if Beedham was a member yet when they recorded, though it’s possible), then at very least they still sound like Groan. From the second Maslen opens his mouth on opener “Women of Doom” and tops the stoner groove with his higher-register bark, you would not likely mistake them for anyone else. No matter how you want to look at it, that works in their favor.

Maslen‘s seemingly indomitable persona is a big part of what gives Groan their identity at this point, and he’s front and center on Ride the Snake, a crotchal thrust timed to the riff-led “Women of Doom,” his voice high in a spacious mix. Though he makes an unlikely champion for the feminist cause in underground metal, and the chorus “Make room for the women of doom/Take heed or they’ll blow out your mind/Make room for the women of doom/Their beauty will smack you blind” a likewise unlikely anthem, it’s a catchy chorus, and one of several on the EP, as “Drug Lord” and “Slice of that Vibe” share a similar mindset, and even “Blessed is My Blade,” which leans less on its chorus, winds up in a memorable boogie as Pilat‘s leads and Maslen‘s vocals (with backing accompaniment) duke it out at the song’s apex. At times, Groan straddle the line of making you wonder whether or not they’re taking themselves seriously, and though they usually wind up on the “nope” side of that equation, eight-minute closer “Citadel of Chaos” is another such example of their toying with heavy metal grandiosity. Pilat, as a solo player, is a fair match with Maslen‘s over-the-top methods, and while he adds that appeal to “Drug Lord,” “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” as well — those three being more verse/chorus in their construction — with “Citadel of Chaos,” it’s as much the guitars as the vocals stepping out front. Should Pilat remain in the band over a longer term, it could be interesting to hear how that dynamic develops over the course of writing for a full-length, but the roots of it are in these songs waiting to be explored, and with Jones and Kaute providing a solid rhythmic drive for that to play out, Groan as they are now could turn into an entirely different band than they were a year ago. Which, you know, they kind of already have.

The recording overall is fairly raw, whether it’s in terms of the general separation in the instruments or Kaute‘s snare in “Citadel of Chaos,” but in both the insistent push of “Slice of that Vibe” — which Maslen tops with a righteous solo vocal, “Gonna get you high!” after the instruments have dropped out — and the fuller tone and more languid pace that emerges in most of “Blessed is My Blade” until it’s apex, Groan‘s point gets across. Stylistically, they’ve kept Ride the Snake in line with The Divine Right of Kings, proffering old-school metallicisms with a stoner rock sense of humor. That blend might come to define them over time, and it’s more in balance here than it was on the last full-length, which seemed as much a reaction to the fuzz-baked The Sleeping Wizard as an growth from it. Fortunately, through lineup shifts, varied aesthetics and, well, more lineup shifts, what’s remained consistent in Groan‘s output has been charm and quality of songwriting, and the 24 minutes of  Ride the Snake lack for neither. Even “Citadel of Chaos,” which is the most complex of the inclusions here in addition to being the longest, has a hook to go with its more longwinded instrumental finish, the guitars and bass fading out and leaving just Kaute‘s drums and a lead line before the chugging returns and all embark on a long fade once again. Wherever Groan are headed, those two factors continue to argue heavily in their favor on these tracks, and while you may not know who’s going to show up on a given release at least up to this point, it’s almost assured that a good time will be had and that all will be invited to Groan‘s party or at very least hear its volume from next door and be tantalized through the other side of wall. If they establish themselves with this lineup and continue to grow the dynamic between the guitars, vocals and rhythm section, they’ll be a force, and if there’s more shaking out to be done, then at least they’ll continue to have a reputation as top grade songwriters.

Groan, Ride the Snake EP (2013)

Groan on Thee Facebooks

Superhot Records

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