Our demo was reviewed by Jay Snyder at Hellride music.
http://www.hellridemusic.com/index.php
Here's the link to the review:
http://www.hellridemusic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19891
Or for the Lazyfuck here it is reposted.
Spacecharge – Demo 2009 (Self-Release)
By Jay Snyder
May 1, 2009
Do you like riffs? I’ll bet you do. So, if you’ve been craving an album
to just pile ‘em on one after another, then Ohio upstarts Spacecharge
should serve your greater good. While this is just a demo disc, there
are 8 tunes in just over an hour. Rarely in this day and age do bands
demo a whole full-length’s worth of music, so you know Spacecharge are
a class act before you even get around to tossing the disc on the
player!
Rugged, slow-motion doom is the specialty here, calling to mind the
godfathers Black Sabbath but settling on a sleazy, Earthride rumble.
While the vocals don’t mimic Sherman, they’re still a vintage whiskey
strain and echo the languid howls found on the UK Sloth’s
Voice of God
masterpiece. Hell besides the vocals, the band even sports a similar
dirt-bag shuffle as that particular Sloth, so there’s another valid
point of reference for you!
When I first hit play, I was wondering if “Critical Density” was in
fact a song at all. The distant buzzing of noise usurps the vacant
space around your ears, filling the mind with anticipation. You’ve got
the ticket, but the destination is smudged. The patient should keep
waiting, because in a few moments the first of many supernova riffs
sends your anxious bones on a journey of untold groove treasures.
Nose-in-the-dust riffs shake the grime from their shaggy mops and
remove the eye crust with a soulful, low-end yawn. If you wanted mood
music to replicate the waking of a giant from its slumber, Spacecharge
has your soundtrack! Earthride’s patented stench permeates the air of
the band’s practice space but the end assault (thought I was gonna say
result didn’t ya!) is slower and less hardcore while remaining no less
heavy than the Maryland greats. Tones are skewered with a bigger 70’s
bent that hearkens to Sleep, Cathedral and Sabbath.
There’s an undeniable swagger present that’ll keep your head bobbing
for days, bulldozing straight into “House of Cards”, which could have
easily been titled “Crumbling House of Cards”! This snaggle-toothed,
son of a bitch of a song focuses on a small handful of key riffs and
hones them into pure perfection. Enrapturing, Iommi lead licks place an
image of an unfolding psychedelic tapestry into the memory banks, as
the drugged-out tongue lashings act as more of an instrument themselves
instead of a lead. Works damn fine for what they’ve going on, with the
vocals snuggly fitting in with the syrupy instrumental tone. Don’t
interpret such a comment to say that the singing is unmemorable,
because it sure as hell isn’t! It just sort of settles right into the
flow of things and doesn’t try to scenery chew the instrumentation.
Casting the listener further into the abyss is the light/dark
shellacking of “Heretic!!” Talk about a Jekyll and Hyde looking
motherfucker; the slovenly first half of this behemoth is rendered
completely unrecognizable by the premium octane, wah-freakout of the
second half. Here the guitar’s speed depravity evaporates into an
up-tempo Southern boogie; the kind that makes you bow down on one knee
in worship of the volume coming out of your stereo speakers! I felt my
head gleefully twisting off my neck, as the killer axe slinging
initiated an uncontrollable, bedroom headbang session.
Earthen doom smolder increases the risk of losing bodily control on “In
Time”; a monument to majestic riffs and totally in the pocket, rhythmic
plodding. Sludge-y, barren and swinging in the vein of Soulpreacher’s
early work but possessing a hymnal quality not far removed from
Abdullah’s
S/T
shindig, this tune’s got the goods in spades. The balance of equal
parts gleam and shade gives the murky heaviness an extremely uplifting
inflection, which comes effortlessly into view in the form of a brief,
psychedelic guitar moment. One listen and you’ll know what I mean. It
tackles the best elements of both sides of the doom coin; the extreme
bite of sludge and the powerful thrust of classic doom/stoner boogie.
Spacecharge isn’t afraid to get a bit hookier either. “Nemesis” is the
closest thing to a sing-a-long they’ve got in store for the listener
and it’s a fucking doozy. After the first listen, the gripping chorus
had me repeating “Eye for an eye, blood for blood” ad nauseam. The tune
sports a superb lyrical mantra to say the least, in addition to
wielding a boogie smooth n’ sweet like a well stored bottle of Makers
Mark; packing a firm punch and a refreshingly silky taste in each eager
sip. Picture Skynyrd taking Sabbath out on the town for a night fueled
by nonstop shots of the aforementioned bottle and you’ll be right on
the money.
Didn’t get your dough’s worth yet? Well, Spacecharge makes sure that’ll
happen by cramming over a half hour of music into the album’s last
three tracks alone! “Ancient Astronaut” surges with the vim and vigor
of the mightiest Sabbathfests ever committed to record, and then
indulges in a toke-out drone segment for the long haul while “Planet
Builder” and “Moving Mountains” are Jupiter sized chunks of space
carnage that juggle catchy grooves with interstellar doom debris. Sure,
feel free to call this maneuver excess when you’ve only got a hair more
material contained in the first five tracks as opposed to the last
three…but when the tunes are this good? Bring it on! Spacecharge
challenges the norm of only including 3-6 tunes on a demo and calling
it a day, by giving the listener a full fledged album and billing it as
a demo. They’ve got flattening riffs, a killer bottom heavy thud,
steadfast vocals and an all around aura of being up to no good, while
having a damn good time causing trouble.
Hope there’s an official release for this one, as it would be nice to
see this puppy with a professional layout and a slightly crisper sound,
but I’m all about the grime under the nails in my doom n’ sludge.
Everyone who eats up Earthride, Sloth (UK), Turambar, Sleep and Sabbath
will be salivating like a dog hunting a bone over Spacecharge! Trust
me, this is just the beginning. There are big things over yonder for
these Ohio boys and only time will tell what shape they take next!