Review Summary: Cool sludge rock in the vein of late Mastodon and Electric Wizard
American multiinstrumentalist Seth Hutchinson has just released Purple Vol. 1: A Quest for Fire, the first volume of his creative heritage collection.
This release consists of six sludge doom songs with a clear southern rock feel. It comes as no surprise - Seth is from North Carolina (remember that Weedeater intro?) and he was raised in a musician home in the southern Appalachian mountains, “listening to whiskey rock n roll and psychedelic rock since birth”. So it’s pretty obvious what to expect from Purple Vol. 1: exactly that sound and vibe that southern rock is known for.
Both musically and lyrically it draws inspiration from the classic imagery and songwriting of such acts, as Eyehategod, Down, and Place of Skulls. Slow fazed out March of the Mammoth, crushing yet sentimental Tributary, groovy stoner of Quest for Fire - the release offers everything a fan of slow heavy metal might need. The fuzziest of guitar tones, an average of 70 bpm (and below) tempos, the power of riff and intense solos are included. But not just that: Refuge for example adds a little extra of acoustic psych rock, Of the Boreal - an extreme kind of doom drowned in noise in the vein of Nadja, and the closing Alluvial Soul provides some of the nastiest sludge metal imaginable, colliding the worlds of Wino and Buzzoven.
A great example of knowing your roots, respecting your heroes and knowing exactly how much rock you want in your metal.
