Loincloth | ‘Iron Balls Of Steel’

Ah, Southern Lord.

The label that started off covering doom, drone and black metal have been branching out in the past few years with some notable results (The Secret, Nails, Noothgrush).

Excellent records that you find hard to categorize, although why you’d want to is beyond me. If so, you’re probably the type who gets annoyed about how the title on the spine of the CD goes the wrong way, resulting in it not matching the rest of your collection.

They’re also albums that you keep going back to, discovering more in the process. I can safely say that the long, long, long awaited debut Loincloth album carries on this fine tradition.

On the go since 2003, and with a 7 and demo CD as the back catalogue, there couldn’t be any excuse for failure. Why? How could you not love song titles like “Church Buntings” and “Thagina”?

Wow, a metal band with a sense of humour. Who’d have thought it? And a lot of it could be put down to Pen Rollings (Breadwinners). For some reason, he’s not on the album, and the band are being extremely vague about the reasons, but you know what? The album still kicks arse regardless.

Opening track is….wait for it…..’UNDERWEAR BOMB’. And that’s not the best thing about it. The riff kicks off proceedings with touches of Coalesce about it. Jerky, but intense.

The warm production contrasts with the perceived ‘cold’ nature of modern (ahem) “progressive” metal (I feel sick just typing it). As a result, your expectations are raised.

The next track is ‘Slow 6 Apocalypse’, which keeps the momentum going. I detect little hints of Killing Joke and Prong in the riffing and drums.

It’s interesting to note that Tannon Penland has claimed that the aforementioned tracks were written during a stressful period in his life. While it wouldn’t be fair (or correct) to say that these are the two best songs on the album, they do have a certain intensity that make them stand out in particular.

With the rhythm section consisting of members of the underrated Confessor, you’re expecting a bit of doom in there of course. And you’ve got it with tracks like ‘Sactopus’ (tee hee hee) and ‘Clostfroth’. The latter is the track being singled out by listeners (and the band) as being the standout number.

While it’s important to note that there’s nothing on here that sounds like the lovechild of Gaz Jennings and Dave Chandler, it does is take the formula experienced throughout the album and adds touches of feedback and wind samples. By the end, you’re left with a vision of the band playing in the Antarctic. The last band on earth.

What’s impressive is that, for an instrumental album, there’s none of the traditional widdly wee bits that take up three days of your life. Each number is structured, concise and to the point (the longest song is nearly five minutes. Others are two minutes.) without sacrificing the most crucial element to metal: the riff.

The only disappointment is the cover. A bland shot of (what appears to be) the inside of a sewer. Music like this needs a strong cover. Something to sway the kid who’s trying to decide between Lamb of God and Protest the Hero.

So, a success for band and label. Long may it continue.

4/5 - Christopher Owens ::: 25/01/12