“The commercial said ‘Forget everything you know about slipcovers...' Then they tried to sell me some, but I didn’t know what they were!”
Well, forget everything you thought you knew about who Hang The Bastard were. But just don’t forget that name. Having not only streamlined their lineup since 2012’s 2009-2012 career retrospective compilation, with bassist Tom Hubbard laying down his four-stringer and moving into the vacant vocalist position, so too has the fat been trimmed from the London quartet’s sound. Slathered in crust, gone is much of the hardcore-like stomp, replaced instead by a more fluid and acrid Sabbath-loving stoner groove. While the likes of Mists Of Albion wallow in a swampy Solitude/Planet Caravan-like atmosphere and The Majestic Gathering Of Goetia calls to mind Black Breath slowed down, it’s the likes of the ‘Orange Goblin go Satanic’ title track that really highlight the extent of the fine tuning the band have undergone in the last two years. And they can still rip your face off, too, as Morrs Tempest proves.
Via Century Media
