Tag: garage metal

Horse Head – Missionary [2015; self-released]

image

Following their 2012 self-titled demo, the Arizona-based Horse Head issued this four-track EP, with punk-tinged metal not quite drifting into sludge.  Song names like “Red-Eyed Angel” and “Whiskey And Blood” give things a blue-collar vibe, and the raspy screaming fits well enough with the rough-edged guitar tones.  While the drummer doesn’t get much spot-lighting, he puts in the most consistent work of the EP, standing out even more due to the break-downs being the biggest point of differentiation between the songs.  Not a bad start for the band, but fairly lacking in material to bring people back for their next effort.

Gorelem – Gorelem II [2015; self-released]

image

With their second (and currently last) studio-recorded release, the German group of Gorelem serve up some heavy metal low on vocal presence.  The riffs are decent but unremarkable, the three-piece band works well together without delivering any real surprises, and song names (e.g., “Godsmoker”, “Chrome”, and “I don’t care”) don’t buck expectations.  The strongest moments come with the guitar solos, just by showing more liveliness than any of the surrounding material, but in spite of the amateurishness engulfing it all, the band shows a respectable enthusiasm and effort in their tunes.  It’s unsurprising that this was (apparently) their last work, but it does have enough to it to make one hope that the members each continued in better projects.