Review Summary: A great Melvin's album, a must-have for sludge fans!
The Melvins have been..well let's say it, kicking ass ever since the early 1980's. Buzz Osborne's vocals are always adding chaos to each song on every album, and though there have been a couple line-up changes, the Melvins have kept it going! They conquer the word "underground", by mixing Sludge, Hardcore, Stoner Rock and Grunge and manage to have a different sound every time you hear them.
With already thirteen albums under their belt, 2002's "Hostile Ambient Takeover " would take on a very dark and a very Sludge Metal side of the Melvins. The album was produced by Toshi Kasai and it was under Ipecac Records that was founded by Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. At the time of this album, the Melvins consisted of Buzz on vocals and guitars, Dale Crover on drums, vocals and keyboards and Kevin Rutmanis on bass.
The album starts off with a untitled song that is consisting of just drums. It's just a kind of up-beat rock drum tempo that goes on for about 40 seconds. After the first intro track, Black Stooges blasts out of nowhere, a very heavy guitar riff with awesome drum fills. Buzz's vocals give it a very southern-feeling to the song that just gives you the perfect Sludge Metal sound! There is a break that comes about 3 minutes in the song that is nothing but insane drum fills with backing effects. As the drums start to fad a bit they stop, and guitar feedback is heard the rest of the song. The album picks up to the song Dr. Geek, that sounds like a metal ho-down....heard to explain. Very fast song, great tempo with squealing guitar solos and fast guitar picking in the verse. It's a short song, but it's great while it lasts.
The Next song is Little Judas Chongo that is just a ear-piercing song. A very heavy song with distorted bass backed-up with guitar and intense vocals. The Fool, the Meddling Idiot is a 7 minute Melvins' song, is how I can put it. The song starts off with loud feedback and very distorted guitars, topped off with some cymbal hits on the drums. When the bass comes in at about 2:30 and Buzz's vocals start to fade in, you're drawn in automatically. A very heavy echo can be heard on Buzz's vocals that is very distorted, giving it a very doom-ish sound. The Brain Center at Whipples comes in next, starts right off the bat with no intro or anything, just BAM..METAL! It's a very fast and loud song, hard to understand to be honest but it fits in perfect with the album and is definitely a great song. Next, another 7 minute jam, Foaming starts as a heavy song and slows very fast in the verse. The guitar slows down to a very clean, grunge rock sound with very light vocals and the bass can be heard very loudly in the back. The song consists mostly of slow riffs but a great amount of drum fills. the song just stops around the 4 minute mark, as all that is heard is a very creepy sound, some kind of moaning of some sort. The song starts to build up as a very slow guitar riff is played over and over with some drums, bass and backing effects to match.
The Last song The Anti-Vermin Seed, is a 15 minute outro basically. After a drum roll, the beginning of the song is a very deep bass beat with a drum sounding similar to tribal groups. A huge gong hit takes affect around the 2:20 mark and guitars start to fade in for about another 2 minutes. A huge twist is heard around the 5 minute mark, as this song goes into a very dark phase, almost Ambient sound (explains the title maybe..?) and keeps a very slow tempo. Buzz's vocals do not come in until 10 minutes into the song, but still keeps a very slow tempo going. His vocals become very creepy with echos the may be pitch-shifted, meaning the backing vocals are at a higher pitch then Buzz's. At 12 minutes, everything picks up has a very distorted guitar comes in for about 30 seconds, going back to the beat that builds the song. It ends with a great sludge sound of guitars, bass and drums.
Recommended Tracks:
-The Fool, the Meddling Idiot
-Black Stooges
-Foaming
